In the nick of time:

Recently I have come to the realization that I got out in the nick of time! I got out in the nick of time from Nairobi due to my being posted to Nyeri early last year because it is apparent that things traffic wise have deteriorated quickly into what may be called a mini crisis of sorts in Nairobi our capital city which has been my working environment for many years.

People, of whom I am a witness as I leave Nairobi for Nyeri at 5.30 am on Monday morning, now routinely, leave home as early as 4.00 am so as to avoid the perennial traffic jams plaguing all the roads into the capital city. It is better after all to get to work early and then read your newspaper in the car or office then cool your heels in a traffic jam for two hours. Having been called to Nairobi for a series of meetings some weeks ago, it took me a good 1 ½ hours to my chagrin to cover a distance of 12 kilometers to my meeting a period which would ordinarily see me at Karatina at 7.00 am on Monday morning.

Things in Nairobi must be (as we used to say back in the day) ‘elephant’ because the decision by the county government to team up with the Central government recently to come up with strategies to unlock the gridlocks on the capitals roads and tame the day long traffic jams in Nairobi was long overdue in coming. At this rate it’s no wonder that all negative things associated with slow moving traffic like snatch and grab attacks by thugs either walking or on boda bodas is on the rise as are incidences of traffic policemen out to make a quick buck pouncing on unsuspecting motorists who have failed to buckle up (does one need to buckle up in 30kmph traffic?), are transacting business or are explaining to someone on their mobile phones why they are late for that all important meeting.

I am not entirely sure that the initiative to remove the five roundabouts along Uhuru Highway shall have the needed results given that past initiatives including installing traffic lights and CCTV cameras don’t seem to have worked at all in alleviating even a small amount of the problem. Millions have been spent on worthless initiatives that have resulted in zero progress. It would make more sense if the by passes were completed faster and then the heavy commercial vehicles rumbling along our highways would be forced to use these routes and decongest the traffic along Uhuru Highway which has to some extent been achieved along Thika Road during off peak hours.

But then again save for my wife and daughters and my brothers and their families who live in traffic choked Nairobi, I have little sympathy to the whining and cursing I see on the various social media forums by those inconvenienced Nairobians because “rudini counties” is my rallying call going forward!!