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THE CANCER RED FLAG

It was indeed a dark month of July 2019 for Kenya. In a span of 4 weeks, the country had lost four influential people. The three deaths were preceded by the untimely demise of former Safaricom PLC C.E.O Robert Bob Collymore which took Kenyans by surprise on the morning of July 1st.
Later in the month, a Kenyan football icon, said to be the greatest offensive midfielder to ever exist in the country also died. Mr. Joe Kadenge had his name implanted onto the minds of Kenyans especially those with solid background in soccer.
However, Kenyans did not get any reprieve as further sorrow followed. The emotional tale of Kibra MP Ken Okoth’s battle for his life and his assisted suicidal end was heartbreaking to say the least. Less than 5 days later, the governor of Bomet county Joyce Cherono Laboso also succumbed and was promoted to the heavenly glory at the Nairobi hospital.
Following those successive deaths, there was a great deal of discourse about one subject: Cancer. Cancer claimed the lives of Bob Collymore, Ken Okoth and Joyce Laboso who succumbed to blood, and colo-rectal cancer respectively. The debate raged on social media, where Kenyans took to twitter to question the current status of Kenyan cancer mitigation measures. The prevalent stalemate had become a great deal of concern. The government should put at the forefront measures to combat the scourge, the concerned Kenyans put across.
After doing a quick simple search on cancer prevalence in Kenya, one finds out that esophagus/throat cancer alone climes the lives of approximately 4000 Kenyans annually. The stalemate was found out by NCI to be the leading life claimant in Kisumu, Nyeri, Nakuru, Bomet and Eldoret County. These finding include both males and females in the aforementioned counties. Approximately 48,000 Kenyans are diagnosed of cancer annually while around 32,000 succumb to it yearly. Many people have confessed their fright of the disease, considering that it takes out even the wealthy. Apparently, there is nowhere to run once you get caught by this monster, therefore, revealing to someone that they have cancer is like a death condemnation.
It is widely known that cancer is caused by abnormal cell growth in any organ. The worst thing about cancer is its silent killing ability. It claws into the life rapidly with its victim totally oblivious. Upon discovery it is mostly at stage 4, which is dreaded by many. It is the time to go, and many victims are left with no choice but accept their fate of disappearing from the face of the world. The treatment process is a costly affair and delivers great suffering to the patients. Talking of chemotherapy is bad news to the family and patient. The chemo drugs are said to be brutal to some patients, with painful side effects like aching muscles, joints as well as stinging pains on the limbs.
Another treatment approach is radiation therapy which involves external beam ionizing radiation. Despite a high success rate of about 93%, patients may face side effects like itching and peeling of the skin among other vicious side effects.
As a country, we are staring at an extremely dangerous situation as far as cancer mitigation is concerned. The cancer fight is highly crippled in this country. One would expect that the devolution of health services could be of assistance. The perfect picture of a devolved health function would be a cancer patient getting treatment from wherever they are in Kenya, from a county facility. To the disillusionment of many, patients are dying in hospitals currently as a result of pay stand-offs between professionals and the authorities.
Cancer treatment is very expensive in the country because of poor policy and majorly lack of commitment. Treatment of cancer domestically can cost 250,000 to 4.5 million or more. There was some reprieve when the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) introduced the NHIF cancer fund. However, some treatments exceeds this cover, because it can only settle drugs at a Ksh. 150,000 approved rate. Under the cancer fund, not all patients get the full allocation, and the criteria used in disbursing is indefinite. As a result patients in abject poverty have minimal or zero survival chances.
The specialists who can administer treatment are in acute shortage. To date there is zero oncologists training institution in Kenya. Plans to establish one with India’s partnership have not yet materialized.
The cancer equipment in this country is extremely deficient. Cancer radiotherapy equipment, for instance, is only available at the Kenyatta hospital and a few private institutions in the Capital. Only one hospital outside Nairobi has a radiotherapy machine, the Eldoret hospital in western Kenya. The radiotherapy machines are concentrated in one area, on a 5 kilometer radius, yet they are expected to serve the whole of Kenya. The outrageous fact is that, only 12 such machines exist in the country. It is therefore, No surprise that approximately half of the patients flocking Indian cancer centers abroad are Kenyans.
Since the government had been accustomed to knee-jack reactions in times of crisis, it had to act immediately. Considering that the people who succumbed to cancer were from the highest strata of politicians and corporates, the president was under pressure to declare cancer a national disaster with immediate effect.
The battle against cancer cannot be won by scampering and fumbling in pretense. The government has to address the issue starting with the healthy individuals. Proper sensitization especially in lifestyle; diet and exercise should be given priority, even before the cancer screening centers are radiotherapy machines. The waits of up to 2 years for radiotherapy services at the Kenyatta hospital are not encouraging either.
The Kenyan people are now conscious of the biggest threat they face at this time of the century. Unlike corruption, cancer is brutal at the individual level with a high likelihood of putting life to an abrupt halt. With the all attention and funds in place, this threat will be neutralized. Create awareness, take care of yourselves, and beat cancer.

The tragic tale of brilliant yet egregiously sinister legal minds.

The Kolenis lived in a plush residence in the city outskirts. Robert and Agnes Koleni were two years into marriage having been friends for a decade. They had both reaped large from their legal careers. Robert was a famous defense lawyer specializing in criminal law, while Agnes was a top ranking government prosecutor. Their high flying careers had placed them on a position to handle high profile cases in the country. They were always on opposing sides, given their different job descriptions. In the two years of matrimony, they had not been able to have a child.
One evening as they relaxed on their couches watching television, damning news flashed on screen. A minister’s wife had been found dead at her house that same evening. The bulletin went on to reveal that the minister in question was out of the country on official duty, and was due on the following day. The authorities had labelled him as the top suspect, following uninvestigated claims of domestic violence made earlier by the deceased. Plain clothes police had already pitched camp at the airport ready to take the suspect for questioning. The minister had already declined to comment on the matter, asking for some privacy to mourn and recollect himself.
The news caught them off balance. Agnes understood the ties between her husband and the said politician. They were friends and they had once been to the minister’s house for dinner. Both of them were shocked by the revelation of domestic violence. Robert however, was mischievously acting surprised. The Minister whose name was honorable Jackson Raudhi had once confided to Robert on his fights with the wife. The legal couple finished up dinner and went to bed early in anticipation of another busy day.
He expected it. Early in the morning as he drew closer to his garage, Robert’s phone rang. His wife was still in the house shuffling her court papers. It was the minister and his instructions were simple; an anticipatory bail and a meeting point for further discussions. Agnes came out and they drove out of the compound and joined the traffic to the busy central business district. He dropped his wife at a printing house a few blocks from the court building. He had to rush to the office first before coming back to the same court building. Back to court he filed the anticipatory and an order was immediately granted not to arrest the minister. Robert insisted that the minister would voluntarily tell the police what he knows.
In the adjacent compound, stood a government prosecution facility. Agnes was inside, together with other fire brand prosecutors being briefed on the same case. At the airport, the minster’s motorcade made its way to government building where the minister worked from. With cameras clicking away, he strongly made his way into the office and immediately came out. He left in a huff leaving the reporters chasing after his car. At the morgue, he linked up with Robert Koleni who was now the de facto personal attorney.
Mr. Raudhi went inside for a brief moment with his dead wife. He came out and briefed Robert about the case against him. Robert knew lady justice Wamayu Clarice. She was his colleague at law school. She was the other lady she knew apart from his wife. Her presence back then at law school, court building and her general existence was disheartening to Agnes. She always insecure, suspecting the Robert and Clarice had a thing going behind her back.
Days after recording his statement, Honorable Raudhi was arrested and arraigned the same day. Robert being a hardcore defense lawyer, he secured bail for his client. In the days leading up to a second hearing, Robert and Lady Justice Wamayu caught up at the court building mess. They had late lunch as they did some catch up. One thing led to the other and they finally got to Wamayu’s house at around 4pm. Unlike Robert, she was not married yet and had shown no signs of courting. They were both carried away by the heat of the moment and got down on each other. Being a defense lawyer, Robert was an unorthodox crook. He cleverly filmed the second bout of steamy sex.
Robert met Clarice in her shelf packed office the following morning. The detectives had arrested two other suspects whose DNAs matched the prints on the dead body. The two had also allegedly been in communication with the minister, and the conversations could go viral any minute. This was hard, irrefutable evidence. Robert knew it was time for the last card; blackmail.
Clarice snapped and bent to Robert’s will. On the ruling day, with a shaky voice, Lady Justice Wamuyu shook the country with the most ridiculous judgments in the history of mankind. She hurriedly left the courtroom after laboriously reading the final judgment. She had ruled in favor of the minister, stating that the minister had no motive to kill his wife, and that his phone could have changed hands under any circumstances. Apparently, the prosecution under Agnes Koleni failed to prove the author of those messages was indeed the minister. Robert punched the air as he left the courtroom.
Fifteen minutes later, Clarice was busy scribbling a suicide note. She hated her life. She was sorry for himself. She had struggled to settle to no avail. In the long run, she makes a single mistake out of pure craving and now her career is permanently tainted. Her career was the only thing she held dear. She could not come to terms with how she would leave with all that guilt. She gave in to the pressure and took her own life. Blood sipped out of her cut wrist until she dropped dead.
The suicide note was surely found and it plunged Robert and Agnes in a vicious brawl. Agnes somehow made it to the gun compartment as Robert recovered from the fall he had taken. With grief and shaky hands, Agnes aimed a direct shot at Robert’s head and took him out. She then blew her brains out. The funerals of the lifetime colleagues and brilliant legal minds were slated for the same week. The minister remained insulated with detectives hitting infinite dead ends against him.

Tours and travel.
Descriptive writing
ROAD TRIP TO THE RANGES.

A road trip from Nairobi to Laikipia is one heck of an adventure! The stretch begins to electrify once in Kijabe.You will easily notice the instant reaction of passengers on the heavily condensed humid ambiance that augments between Lari and Kijabe, and that which assumes the grey-like appearance of the clouds. More often than not, it is more apparent how some passengers begin to pull hoods over their heads while others gather themselves together and wrap their upper bodies with shukas, especially those from Masai land which come in a combination of three different colours in one.
Along the way your excitement will glow of the way nature manifests itself. In an instant your attention will be attracted and your feelings aroused especially if you are an animal fanatic once in Naivasha. It is fascinating grassland with great diversity and synergism.
Several cohorts of zebras graze on the fibrous grass, giraffes crop the trees, herd of antelopes feed on the grass while others browse on the bushes and on rare occasions warthogs and other browsers, are grazing in the voluminous tropical grasslands with some scattered segments of bushes and thickets, trees and shrubs along with a rich variety of species of rare bird like the lilac-breasted roller, saddle-billed stork, green sandpiper, jacana, white fronted bee-eater, the list is endless, which colours the quiet atmosphere with their sweet melodies. Children get so much excited to see this. Occasionally you will notice how they shift from one window to the next in an attempt to see this wide species of scenic creatures, they will then jump up and down raptured, kids will always be kids! Sadly, the picturesque view fades away along the diversion to Gilgil.
Something worth noticing on the way to Gilgil was how the road deteriorated, dropping into the cool and damp forest. The view is exceptionally sightly. It has never crossed my mind that, I would ever come across an environment like this anywhere else, apart from the drive INS, in the flush Karen estates. It was so arousing to gaze at the black tarmac stretch, sandwiched between well-trimmed light green grass cover, on a one-meter width from both edges of the road. In addition, was the absolutely still, thick growth of trees, ascending on the mountainous region, giving the illusion of an inclined terrain.
In a bit,i thought of this, Imagine residing within the forest, in a well-structured bungalow and withdrawing totally from the outside world, only coming out on the weekends to do your shopping in malls and furthermore to horse race in the small ranch along the highway. Fantastic, is it?
From here, the excitement becomes so minimal as the beautiful nature gradually decreases and development of human population, though very sparse starts encroaching as well as evident farming activities in the small slots divided from the large farms. It takes almost an hour to reach to Nyahururu town where everyone alights and heads to their specific destination. I am forced to board another matatu that drives me out of Nyandarua County to Laikipia County at only 50 shillings.It is already one o’clock and I feel hungry. I am confused, I don’t know what to eat but anyway I decide on chips and a bottle of soda. I could smell the aroma of chips from a distant but I didn’t know from where specifically.I walk, uncertain but finally get the chips base and quickly finish the junkies.
Luckily I get a matatu outside the hotel, board and in a few minutes am In Laikipia. The excitement is again revived by the beautiful view of the eye-watering Aberdare ranges clearly from within Laikipia University. It is significantly huge and spectacularly beautiful.

Here is the trick to the sweetest meatballs EVER!

Ingredients: 2 onions,minced meat,1 bunch coriander, egg,1/2 tsp salt,cooking oil 1/2 litre.

Cut two pieces of onions in fancy shapes.

Cut the coriander into equal sizes.

Add cooking oil in a sufuria,then add the onions till they are golden brown in colour.

Add the minced meat and some salt to taste.Once cooked,mix with an egg to enhance stickyness.

Make the mixture into several balls,then deepfry.Once cooked serve .

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton