Standard Gauge Railway Blow.

Story by Vincent Mageto,

 While Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway offers a cheaper more efficient transport option for cargo it has also resulted in job losses.

SGR Train at Mombasa terminus photo courtesy of Google

The multibillion-shilling SGR offers its services to landlocked countries in East Africa, and so far container traffic has grown fourfold, with the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Nairobi handling up to seven cargo trains daily from just one when the freight service was launched in December 2017.
The ICD has also benefited after cargo clearance was moved from Mombasa to Nairobi. In 2019, the SGR hauled close to nine million tonnes of cargo to Nairobi after the government introduced ex-hook railage where cargo is offloaded directly from the ship to the wagon.
The initial phase of the project running from Mombasa to Nairobi was completed in 2017 and is operational with 14 freight and 4 passenger trains while the second phase – Nairobi-Naivasha SGR – is currently under construction.For centuries, Mombasa’s economy has gravitated around the port but now its mainstay is facing a challenge in what some observers say is a slow and painful death.

“The transport sector is dying before our on eyes, firms are now laying off drivers, everything is moving to Nairobi,” said Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) Chief Executive Officer Dennis Ombok.
Despite the fact that the railway is a worthwhile project expected to bring in numerous socio-economic benefits and grow the country’s GDP by 1.5%, it is a two faced sword with demerits.
Here are the negative effects of the SGR on the Kenyan economy:
1.) Increased debt
Kenya’s public debt continues to burgeon and is now considered to be on the blink of unsustainable levels at 60% of the GDP.
So bad is the situation that the IMF has placed the country on its debt-distress watch list.
To salvage the situation, the government has rolled out measures to boost revenue collection for loan repayment such as introduction of VAT on zero rated items – raising the cost of living.
While the SGR is set to be a key catalyst for economic growth, it is funded with debt at a cost of Sh1.023 trillion, without interest, making it the largest single contributor to the ballooned debt and its negative effects.
2.) Market disruption
With reduced travel time and costs, coupled with safer travelling conditions, the SGR is set to become the preferred mode of transport for passengers and cargo owners hence taking a huge percentage of them off the roads.
Unfortunately, these positive aspects of the project are set to occasion diminished business and loss of income for truck and bus owners and job loss for drivers, turn boys and truck loaders.
3.) Collapse of towns
As SGR edges out trucks in long distance cargo transport, towns and market centers heavily reliant on trucks for business opportunities will be in danger of economic downfall as establishments such as hotels, bars, lodgings and garages collapse due to lack of customers.With their ruin, loss of livelihood for shop owners, mechanics, oil recyclers, and waiters will be imminent forcing them to migrate or change profession – which is costly and time consuming.

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GLOBAL THREATS ON CORONA VIRUS.

Story by Vincent,

Coronaviruses are a family of hundreds of viruses that can cause fever, respiratory problems, and sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms too. The 2019 novel coronavirus is one of seven members of this family known to infect humans, and the third in the past three decades to jump from animals to humans. Since emerging in China in December, this new coronavirus has caused a global health emergency, sickening almost 100,000 people worldwide, and so far killing more than 3,000. As of March 3, about 100 cases had been reported in the US, and six people have died.

 An electron  microscope image of Coronaviruses image from Google.

HOW DOES IT SPREAD?
Researchers are still trying to understand how SARS-CoV-2 spreads between humans. (SARS-CoV-2 is the official name of the germ; the official name of the disease you get from the germ is Covid-19—more on that below.) It’s likely to be transmitted in droplets from coughing or sneezes, and the virus has a two- to 14-day incubation period. That means people could be infectious for quite a while before symptoms like fever, cough, or shortness of breath emerge.

Right now, CDC officials say Americans should prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Based on the number of new cases, the overall risk of getting Covid-19 is still pretty low in most parts of this country. But flaws in testing kits and strict testing requirements have severely limited how many people have so far been tested, which means nobody knows who might actually be infected, or how serious (or mild) their illnesses might be. Growing numbers of cases of community spread in California and Washington suggest that the virus may be circulating more widely than case numbers might indicate.

PARTICULAR SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19?
In the confirmed cases so far, most people get a fever with a dry cough; smaller numbers of folks might experience shortness of breath, a sore throat, or a headache.


HOW TO AVOID GETTING THE CORONAVIRUS?
Wash your hands severally using Clean water,Clean all of your tech equipment. Just like your hands, your smartphone and keyboard and headphones and anything else gets germs on it.Are you a health care worker? If not, don't buy a face mask—that depletes supplies for the health professionals who need them. Same goes for gloves

If you're in a high-risk group (over 60, have preexisting lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, or a weakened immune system) you should seek treatment if you get sick, since it can quickly go from cough to full-blown pneumonia. Call your doctor or clinic first with your suspicions so they can direct you appropriately. If you're not in a high-risk group, better to self-isolate at home with plenty of fluids and anti-fever meds. Odds are you'll recover, and this way you won't expose anyone. Still call your doctor, so they know what's going on—they may be able to direct you to people at the health department who can conduct testing. Don't go to the ER unless you're really experiencing life-threatening symptoms.


HOW  COVID-19 MORE DEADLY THAN THE FLU?

That remains to be seen. According to preliminary estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2019–2020 flu caused 19 million to 25 million illnesses and up to 25,000 deaths. The Covid-19 numbers are harder to calculate because it’s not yet clear how many people are infected. The CDC calculates the death rate at about 2 percent, which is higher than the flu—but the real number might be a lot lower, because less-severe cases may not have been reported. People with more mild cases might not even go to the hospital, and health care workers might have mistaken cases for the flu or for pneumonia. If epidemiologists count only the most severe cases, the death rate will look higher because a higher proportion of those patients die—so that might not offer an accurate reflection of reality.

Like in the recent case whereby a shakily filmed video has been circulating on social media showing an Asian man and woman being bullied by a large crowd in Nairobi,the video begins with unidentified individuals in the crowd shouting "you're coronavirus. Showing that they are fearing and mixed with stigma.
In conclusion we should all take care of ourselves and take safety measures for good health.

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WHAT'S ALL ABOUT CAMPUS LIFE

A picture from my gallery with fellow students at TUM.

What came into my mind whenever a campus word was mentioned was freedom life and very beautiful ladies. In highschool my teachers used to say that in campus there is nothing like struggling, nobody is concerned about what you're doing.Actually this motivated me to work hard so that I can join campus and experience that kind of smooth life.

In September 2018, I was lucky to join the Technical University of Mombasa whereby I took journalism and mass communication course.In my first year of study I can't believe what I heard from my high school teachers used to say which I turned out to a total lie the kind of no struggling life they used to  say turned into a real one, what they said right is ladies are in campus but you've to tighten your heart for you to get into a relationship since this is where small young angels from high school get trapped by many guys in campus they feel so excited dating a campus guy where some guys maybe sincere while others maybe wasting your time ofcos this is the best time of courtship but many guys in campus do jumping in relationships.

Having an experience in campus life, most of the students get into drugs through getting into bad companies like I've seen many guys taking drugs since we joined campus and what comes into my mind is, it's like before getting into campus they never knew that there was existence of drugs and now they are an experts and now they feel they have acquired true friends who has introduced them into this behaviour.

In campus gambling is the most hustling activity done by the students like betting you find a student stakes a larger amount of money of which most of them end up loosing the money and forget that this is the one that they depend on for the survival while in campus and after loosing money they will ask for more from there parents through all sorts of tricks such as lying to them that there is an increment in the school fees and others get into the extent of committing suicide.

In conclusion let's know our goals and what we want in our lives.

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