[kictanet] It's a new twist for Econet Wireless

[bitange at jambo.co.ke]

Dear Mr. Theuri,
Whereas you may be having more information than we do, it may be prudent
for you to spill out the beans for the world to know.  It is pointless to
implicate the Government if you cannot substantiate your claims.

We have gone through all these motions for the past one year and the best
way forward was to remove government from any possible liability. 
Remember we accepted $15 million deposit for the licence fee (whether this
was right or wrong it is water under the bridge).  Even if we were to
refund this at normal interest rates, it is a lot of money to the tax
payer.  One way or another, we had to make a decision since this matter is
more of regulatory than policy.

If indeed there is injustice to the whole matter, the courts will deny
Econet from getting to set up in Kenya.  Nobody has stopped KNFC from
pursuing justice.

One thing that I have learnt in this office is that you cannot be
indicisive and hope to achieve anything.  I have always used Thika road as
the best analogy.  In as much as the users are suffering with traffic
jams, they usually do not think the same if the Government wanted to make
it a six lane highway in both sides, still there will be protesters who
will say pedestrians crossing will have a problem or the goat keepers at
Utalii will claim lost business.  Once in a situation and you want to move
on, the most prudent thing you do is to make a decision (good or bad).

Have a decive day.


Regards


Bitange Ndemo.





> One cannot envy the PS for he is in a difficult situation trying to
> extricate the government from a situation which would never have occurred
> had those responsible (long before the tender concluded) abided by the law
> and struck out the litigant based on publicly and widely available
> information during the pre-qualification stage of the tender. Even though
> some might disagree, two wrongs do not make a right, and history no matter
> how long it takes to get there will be the judge of this government's
> actions. As was the case, while the Government was fighting the litigant
> in
> Kenyan courts, a different arm of the Government was bizarrely engaged in
> a
> PR campaign on behalf of the litigant in a foreign country! Was the
> litigation in Kenya a mere public relations exercise to show Kenyans that
> the government tried to do something so that Kenyans could mistakenly
> conclude that atleast the government 'fought tooth and nail' ?
>
> The government cannot claim to know it did not know what kind of 'animal'
> it
> was dealing with when it allowed the litigant to get past
> pre-qualification
> while international telecom giants with more experience, cash and
>


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