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Potholed, slimy Kibaki Road is crying out for Emilio Mwai to come fix it

Saturday April 12 2014

Politeness dictates not to look a gift horse in the mouth. This means, simply, that when you are presented with a horse as a gift — you did not buy it — you do not do due diligence to determine its age and health by examining its teeth. You simply take the gift without making too much fuss as to its quality.

That is surely what Emilio Mwai Kibaki, former president of the republic of Kenya, must have had in mind when he was done the honour of having a Dar es Salaam street, Old Bagamoyo, named after him a few weeks before he stepped down as head of state.

It looks like he did not ask to inspect the whole street named after him to assess its length, width and state of repair. I mean, it’s not proper to give the name of such a venerable gentleman to some backwater of a street that no one wants to use.

If you are going to name roads and buildings after excellencies, then those things have to be excellent themselves.

Still, as I said above, Mr Kibaki, being a perfect gentleman, did not insist on checking before accepting the honour. He was seen on television beaming that smile of his, flanked by his host President Jakaya Kikwete, both looking quite pleased with themselves.

Unbeknownst to Mr Kibaki, he had just been gifted one of the most unseemly roads among the major arteries of the city, a road that is so habitually clogged that even Sunday afternoons offer no pleasure to motorists.

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Surely, someone in the Kenyan High Commission should have informed the president that though at the time of renaming the street in honour of him Dar was dry, this road is practically impassable in the rainy season, and the problem seems to be getting worse with every passing year.

We are getting the full treatment right now, as we have been blessed with heavy showers this year. Mwai Kibaki Road is a street you want to avoid, if you can.

Mr Kibaki’s host at that time knew the road well, seeing as it leads to one of his homes. He could have whispered to his guest that though he was renaming the road after him, there remained a few repair works to be done on it, and could he, Mr Kibaki, please make available a few of those very strong Kenyan shillings?

You see, Kibaki Road is suffering from the KDD (Keep-Dar-Dirty) syndrome, which ensures that this will be one of the filthiest capital cities of Africa, alongside Bamako, Bangui, Bujumbura and other towns that have seen conflict and strife. Our genius lies in the fact that we can have the effects of war without having to go through it — we take the shortcut.

There is now an extended puddle of dirty water that stagnates around a most prestigious hospital, and this water is given slimy consistency by the flotsam of plastic, sewage and faeces originating from the traditional latrines of nearby shacks.

If you think your tyres and the lower body of your car will catch the pestilence of this sickly stew, spare a thought for the pedestrians who have to wade through it knee-deep.

Problem is, the very clever monied dunces who inhabit a cosmos called Dar es Salaam elected to build their Malibuesque mansions smack on the beach, but by doing so they blocked the sewerage systems that used to conduct storm water to the sea. Now when the rains come, a good part of Dar becomes waterlogged. In the event of a hefty tsunami one of these days, we will need a Noah.

As usual, some people have been seen poking things into the water around the area, but they are making matters worse as evidenced by a string of broken cars that have joined the flotsam after they fell into the craters covered over by the water.

Someone in Nyeri please tell Mr Kibaki to come fix his road. It’s giving him a bad name and us a hard time.

Jenerali Ulimwengu is chairman of the board of the Raia Mwema newspaper and an advocate of the High Court in Dar es Salaam. E-mail: [email protected]

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