[kictanet] Does the ICT constituency matter?

Fri May 18 10:05:50 EAT 2007

Walu, the flaw in your question is establishing the validity of ICT  
Constituency based on the "no show" of the politicians. Politicians  
are known for "no shows"as a face saving mechanism so i would rather  
that we deal with the "no show" tool which is what others are  
suggestion than revisit this settled debate on legitimacy and validity.

Please, lets stick to the principle of people honouring their word  
when the give it. If they cannot for whatever reason, there are  
acceptable norms of disengaging.

Eric here

On 18 May 2007, at 11:28, John Walubengo wrote:

> Dear Listers,
>
> Now that I missed the great debate that almost was, I have
> had time to think 'brutal' by daring to ask the
> question-Does the ICT constituency matter?
>
>> From a political point of view - narrow as it maybe - the
> ICT constituency may not matter.  2 million urban,
> middle-class  internet (ICT?)users, stuck  between the two
> cities of Nairobi & Mombasa may not be worthy of national
> political consideration...
>
> So if I was a presidential candidate in .KE, you will
> forgive me if I concentrated on issues that the common man
> can identify with...land, tribalism, corruption,
> insecurity....unless ofcourse u  get a way to give the
> above an ICT twist...
>
> walu.
> --- Brian Longwe <brian at isisweb.nl> wrote:
>
>> 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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>>>> http://www.accesskenya.com/
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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Eric M.K Osiakwan
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