The jubilee governments has done a lot of public relations (National PR). They have paused for photos with the less privileged of the society. Mr. President has appeared on selfies. That’s humbling. However, they have not observed limits.
At first, Kenyans will describe one as down-to-earth, which is an overstatement of Kenyan leaders. Turning the other side of the coin, our leaders do not practice the same. What they do is to win accolades.
A photo has reached our desk of the deputy president William Ruto coming out of a grass thatched house. It is said that some electric connection was completed in the house. From outside, a white socket can be seen on one side of the wall. That is awe-inspiring. It is good for people to have the electric power to illuminate their homes and for their electric apparatuses. There is however some danger in doing that in a grass thatched house.
Grass thatched houses are not fully sealed. They are pervious (reminds me of rocks we learnt in geography). Water can always leak through. That is not the problem. The problem is in the time this water might have with the circuit components.
Water is a conductor and can cause short circuiting or electrocuting. It can result into explosions. Our transformers have an automatic switch-off system in case of such dangers. However, it is never as immediate as the problem occurs. It may take at least some minutes before it goes off.
Imagine a grass thatched house, during a rainy season, and an electrocuting occurs. It will reach us again that a family had died because of an electric caused fire. The government will then take a swift step, hoodwink people in the name of demolishing such houses. One wonders why they allowed their connections.
For the deputy president who understands some science to launch that, it sounds dangerous to us. The state should invest in safety while doing such development projects and covering with much public relations if not propaganda.
