[kictanet] Holding our Leaders Accountable

Fri May 18 11:54:47 EAT 2007

Many thanks for the comments that have come through  the list . it shows the
dynamism of the ICT fraternity .    

The absence of the presidential aspirants  talks loudly that either they are
not familiar with issues , or if they are familiar they do not them consider
significant  at national level or they do not care. Either way  we in the
ICT world are proactive people and instead of castigating them let us  roll
our sleeves and work with them  and  make sure they understand the issues,
the significance and  why they matter.  

This is an on-going programme and  as indicated in the debate and  we shall
have another session in July and hopefully the political scenario on the
presidential aspirants will be clearer . For now,  to determine who to
invite was based on  government of national unity  versus the opposition as
broadly perceived in the national political arena. After the party elections
we shall have clarity on who to invite in the next round . 

The overall objective of the project is to ensure that we place the ICT
agenda  as campaign issue and we need to show the presidential aspirants
that ICT is an national issue 

Muriuki Mureithi
Team leader
ICT mainstreaming in the Political Arena project 
KICTANET

-----Original Message-----
From: kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke at kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke at kictanet.or.ke] On
Behalf Of Brian Longwe
Sent: 17 May 2007 13:26
To: mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Holding our Leaders Accountable

I would like to strongly echo the sentiments of Lucy as well as to  
add my own fury to the fire.

I was extremely upset that not only did *NONE* of the presidential  
aspirants show up - but some of them even went as far as responding  
to phone calls by saying "I am on the way, will be there in 20  
minutes"...... then never turning up..... can you imagine that?  
Treating the Kenyan ICT community like a spurned girlfriend or  
boyfriend?

Anyway I think that the message that has been sent by the absence of  
every single one of the aspiring presidents was very LOUD and CLEAR -

" We don't care about ICT - it doesn't factor in our vision - it is  
unimportant to us"

As very precisely put by someone I overheard at the meeting - "these  
aspiring presidents probably don't even know how to spell ICT"

We must make a loud and strong statement about his and ensure that  
the wider Kenyan community realises the true colours of their  
"wannabe" presidents.

Brian

On May 17, 2007, at 12:26 PM, John Walubengo wrote:

> LK,
>
> u sound a bit disappointed.  Unfortunately i didnt attend
> the function and would like to know who really turned up
> from the presidential aspirants and what they said...
>
> Michuki, any hope for the text transcript?  Or Becky could
> give us a brief the old way in form of minutes/updates/etc?
> Then from there the absentees like me could contribute more
> intelligently on the way forward...
>
> walu.
>
> --- Lucy Kimani <lkimani at comnews.co.ke> wrote:
>
>> All,
>>
>> I am just venting on the dismal performance of our
>> aspiring presidential
>> candidates, I have noticed a trend where those in
>> leadershipship positions
>> let alone those aspiring for the same confirm their
>> attendance to a
>> certain function and then not show up or best case
>> scenario show up 2-3
>> hours late.  I keep asking myself why do we as Kenyans
>> accept this
>> behavior, and I am at a loss!
>>
>> Actually, my pesa nane is that we as the citizens need to
>> start demanding
>> accountability in that when one says they will attend a
>> function then they
>> should keep to their word, after all why are electing
>> people whose word
>> doesnt count for much?  Additionally, most of us also
>> have busy work lives
>> and the fact that we were willing to stop what we were
>> doing to sit down
>> to hear what these aspiring candidates have to say about
>> ICT is a
>> testament to how important we feel ICT to be to the
>> country.
>>
>> I am one for making strong statements, and a one page ad
>> expressing our
>> displeasure and questioning why the candidates are scared
>> of facing a
>> serious group of citizens wanting to know where each of
>> them stands in ICT
>> would be in order!  I am sure if it was one of those
>> meetings where fans
>> are shouting at the top of their voices, and no one is
>> asking any serious
>> questions they probably would show up, we need to start
>> demanding more
>> from our politicians!
>>
>> Just my thoughts!
>>
>> LK
>>
>>
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>>
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