Baraza JM Referenda are not always the best way to go about making certain decisions. Placing the onus of deciding society’s fate might not always be best left to society to decide itself, and that is why we have leaders. The same way children cannot necessarily be consulted on grave family matters is the same way the … Read more
Dear Baraza, One of my employer’s vehicles is a double-cabin Ford Ranger. I find this car very uncomfortable because: Entering and disembarking from the back seat calls for a lot of effort and is quite a big challenge, especially to women. When you sit at the back, your knees get raised quite a bit, making … Read more
So, the old British warhorse got sent to the knackers’; we all know that by now. Odd, then, how such a venerable icon never really got its time of day in this column. Sure, I did a sort of pseudo-eulogy for it the week the official death announcement was made, but obituaries can be found … Read more
Commercial vehicles are boring. It is hard to spruce up a lorry within taste or reason, or to make a van look attractive beyond considerations like carrying capacity and fuel consumption. But that hasn’t stopped people from trying. The results are diverse, limited and often impractical outright. For instance, we have things like a Ford … Read more
The weather was unusually hot, a slightly uncomfortable situation further aggravated by the fact that I had a black shirt draped over a cotton T-shirt. I had been here many times before, and I know that the general temperatures around this locale tend to be low. The conditions had always demanded warm clothing, but on … Read more
The content below is a published response to City Girl’s Subaru fiasco by Baraza JM – Enjoy. Blue boxer boys and biased bloggers: This is a clarification and a disclaimer. I do not know any female bloggers, much less any who have underlying and/or unresolved issues with drivers of blue Subarus. I did not train, … Read more
Not so long ago, I had an informal chat with the bigwigs at DT Dobie, and almost inevitably, our conversation drifted to the seemingly devious machinations of the National Transport and Safety Authority and the apparent war it seems to be waging on drivers everywhere. The itch under my skin was about speed limits and … Read more
Hi Baraza, What’s your take on the BMW 745Li in terms of maintenance and suitability for Kenyan roads since I don’t see them much on our roads. What are the pitfalls of maintaining such a beast? Hello, The 745Li does have tyres, doesn’t it? That means it is suitable for “Kenyan” roads, which, truthfully … Read more
Designing the car of the future by looking at the past part 3: Design “Take a good look as it passes you,” advised the advertisements for the new Jowett Javelin back in 1949. The advice was good; among the traffic scattered on our roads then,composed largely of spavined family fugboxes that had been due for … Read more
We interrupt this programme to bring you news of… emissions testing and cheating. Ever since Volkswagen were nabbed being less than honest about the pollutants pouring out of their cars’ tailpipes, every manufacturer has been on edge, and with good reason. It seems that every other week yet another car maker is mentioned or rumoured … Read more