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Thursday, April 10, 2014

OF ALCOBLOW; EXAM-CHEATS AND A NATION OF HYPOCRITES; SHORTCUT


#thingsfallapart

I bleed for my country- Kenya! Why you ask? Today, every village in Kenya and everyone wants nothing but the best in life and somehow we believe that the easiest way to achieve this is through dishonest means. This dishonestly is taught to children at an early age.
Each year; thousands of exam candidates; from primary schools to universities, are caught cheating. This year’s KCSE, of the 47 counties, only 7 were said to have no cases of malpractices.

Sadly, when our comedian joked that Maranda Boys were busy focusing on the “Oscars”; and that is why the school was not ranked; it appears that the top school in 2012 had indeed been involved in exam irregularities.
But the question is; how do students manage to dope the system into thinking they are brighter that they actually are?
A number collude with their teachers who leak exam papers before they are distributed to the schools; thus giving them a head start over other students.

From exams to breathlysers; commonly known as “the alcoblow”. The motives behind its introduction was noble- and still are- to reduce deaths and injuries caused by drunken driving.
But the very “resourceful” Kenyans fought legal battles to have it withdrawn on hygiene grounds. The authorities reintroduced it toward the end of last year; this time with more sanitized measures.
When those in love with the booze realized that they had been cornered; they came up with more bizarre ways to beat the system.
During a crackdown along Lang’ata Road a few days ago; police said that some Kenyans had resorted to hiring ‘part-time’ drivers who help them get through the roadblocks before they get behinds the wheel in their inebriated state.
Yet, another trick up the sleeves of some people is the use of a ‘decoy drunkard’. This involves sending a sober driver ahead to survey the situation. Once he gets to a manned roadblock, he acts drunk and dares the police to test his breath.

Of course the gadget detects no alcohol in him in the melee, the really drunk drivers either use alternative routes or pass undetected as the police are kept busy by the “decoy”.
The showstopper, however, is the vigor with which some Kenyans have resorted to the use of social media in providing updates on the exact locations of the police crackdowns. Several Twitter accounts and Facebook pages have been created where members update every few hours about the condition of the roads especially where danger lurks. Some of the comments make for hilarious reading.

One reads; “we have now crossed 17,000 likes. That’s more likes that (David) Kimaiyo has on Facebook. Thank you for your support and keep inviting your friends. Keep the updates coming.”
Another in part reads; “it’s official, Alco blow is now operating even during the day so please be on the lookout. Let us keep each other updated. Remember strength in numbers comrades.”
One wonders. But, why would some go to such great lengths just to beat systems that have been put in place to protect them?

Our morality is on a run-away. We have become an access pool of corruption; wary of authorities; people not ready to embrace place presence and would rather engage in plain hide and seek.

By Embukane Vincent Libosso.


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