Mutula, when will you wake up to face reality?

Commentary & Analysis

Story by: OMAR ALI


There is one Minister who is lately being seen to be operating through the media in performing his ministerial duties. The Minister is none other than Mutula Kilonzo heading the newly created Nairobi Metropolitan Development docket. My take is that the Mbooni MP is either trying to give an impression to the public through the media that his ministry is not one of those perceived to be “minor cabinet dockets” created to appease certain political quarters.

Perhaps, he thinks by operating through the media he will be seen to be hard working as opposed to be sleeping on the job. His latest theatrics is a picture where he is in a chopper on the sky touring Nairobi and suggesting that the City should start utilizing helicopters landing spaces, helipads, to ease traffic congestion in the City. While I agree with the Minister that the President should perhaps use helicopters to travel to and from the airport when he is travelling and or arriving from overseas trips as opposed to travelling by land to and from the airport and or the State House.

It is true that when the President travels police have to clear the roads hours before he passes through the designated roads, causingQA unnecessary snarl-ups that could be avoided if the he took a chopper. Other countries such as the United States, the President utilizes the chopper when he travels to and from the airport and when he goes to or returns from the nearby Camp David presidential retreat outside Washington DC.

But Kilonzo is going too far be suggesting that all buildings, especially the world-class hotels should have such helipads facility to enable direct landing of visitors from the airport. Kilonzo may be a multi-millionaire, thanks to the exclusive no bid Government contracts from the former Daniel arap Moi’s Kanu government, but I must remind him that Kenya is a poor country. With the escalating high prices of oil, using helicopters is going to be an expensive exercise.

In one of his visions, the Ministry needs Sh34 billion for the strategic plan to be realized. Neither the Minister nor the Prime Minister has stated whether the country has the funds or not to implement the strategic plan. Telling us he wants to do this and that does not mean it is done or he has done it. The one time presidential lawyer ought to be aware that ministerial work is not solely done through the press. He needs to be realistic and stop living in a fantasy world. omarahmedali@gmail.com
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http://www.kenyatimesonline.com/content.asp?catid=5&articleId=1263
Updated on: Sunday, June 01, 2008 Story