[kictanet] 1 million Laptops for who?

Fri Dec 12 18:01:11 EAT 2008

Friends,

Happy Jamhuri Day!

45 years of independence? The colonial system still stands and many are
starving. Huge amounts of money have been spent on "policy" and
"development", but somehow the children in my village still go hungry. While
I understand that development takes time, it would take less time if the
resources were distributed fairly.

I have stood by Dr. Ndemo's side through thick and thin and prayed for him
each day to realize the real power he has to make positive change. I have
seen him use the example of my project in Sirisia as an example again and
again. The barefoot mamas huddled around the solar powered computers. I have
received no thanks or credit even when I was in the room, but I remained
quiet and prayed, But this latest issue with the procurement of computers by
the government not being part of their mandate is highway robbery. The
Ministry of communications and Infomation applied for World Bank loans to
assist in the development of ICT in Kenya. I have seen where a majority of
these funds are going and they are not being spent in a ways that reach the
intended target audience.

The ICT Board recently held a conference at KICC on Local Content. The
presentations were great. I learned about some amazing projects. One of the
primary things I learned was that rural development and a concern with rural
content generation is rhetoric. The majority of the budget of the Ministry
of Communications and ICT Board is paying for two week trips to Silicon
Valley, California and salaries, yet we have not seen the promised
telecentres in each of the 210 constinencies. They were to be put into place
last December. I have seen very little actual work and progress on the
ground. If the mission of the ICT Board and the Ministry of Communications
is truly socio-economic development it needs to focus more funding and
effort on bringing access to information technology to the rural people who
are suffering. Serve those with the most need first. The content the world
needs to see from Kenya is held within these people. The wananchi. Kenya is
bigger than Nairobi.

To put the icing on the cake, on our independence day the Ministry of
Communications puts forth a bill that puts a gag on Kenyans and refuses them
the right to free speech. Don't Kenyans have rights? Is the UN Declaration
of Human Rights not good enough for the Kenyan government? Mere suggestions?
Stifling the people is not the answer. Putting control of the many in the
hands of a few is oppressive and unjust. This is not a democracy.

So Happy Jamhuri Day. It is also my 30th birthday. However, I do not thank
the Ministry of Communciations and Information for their gift. I would
rather have our rights.

Asante sana.

Crystal Kigoni

On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 2:53 PM, robert yawe <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Hi Dr. Ndemo,
>
> Yet another of your safe answers to a very tricky question.
>
> So we will you be organising a session with "private sector" to plan the
> way forward?
>
> Regards
>
>
> Robert Yawe
> KAY System Technologies Ltd
> Phoenix House, 6th Floor
> P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
> Kenya
>
>
> Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
>
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* "bitange at jambo.co.ke" <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
> *To:* robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, 10 December, 2008 20:42:00
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] 1 million Laptops for who?
>
> Dear Faima Basly,
> You are asking good questions pessimistically.  what I said is that we
> shall start a one Million lap top campaign early next year.  In otherwords
> we want at least one million laptops/notebooks in the hands of Kenyans
> from all walks of life.  The strategy is to partner with whoever aligns
> themselves with our main policy direction - to lower the cost of accessing
> technology in Kenya - and specifically encouraging local assembly in order
> to develop capacity.  Government has no intention of making any
> procurement arrangement for the public.  This is private sector work.
> Ours is to facilitate.  If Intel lowers cost for Laptops chips as part of
> of our camapign and they intend to do that, that is good since that will
> benefit all assemblers.
>
> We are looking at the issue from a macro level as we want as many Kenyans
> access technology.  We are pretty sure Broadband would be affordable in
> less than one year from today.  Having broadband will make every Kenyan a
> clerk but indeed help many to participate in the global economy.
>
> Asante.
>
>
> Ndemo.
>
>
>
>
> >
> > Mr Robert,
> >
> > I read the article in the papers yesterday and couldn't help but echo
> some
> > of your questions on this mail list that unfortunately have not yet been
> > responded to.
> >
> > Of key interest is the following:
> >
> > Whats the plan for procurement? tender or 'donated'? To me this is a
> > perfect opportunity to set up a partnership for local assembly with any
> of
> > the big boys - Acer, Dell, HP etc to set up an assembly plant with a 2
> > year clear handover to Kenyans, part of the deal should have initial 80%
> > local employment with clear skill transfer built in so that in 18 months
> > you have 99% local employment at the plant. Do the math 1,000,000*40,000
> > kshs ( assumed price) = Lots of money. This is a deal that anyone would
> > salivate for.
> > Will the computers have MS Office or Linux - Again do the math as its
> > likely to be the former.
> > What about capacity building? Planned for or just wish ful thinking?
> > Was there a need analysis carried out to determine that it is indeed
> > Laptops required?
> >
> > So to me procurement of laptops should never be an option. As we already
> > have the madaraka project in place, why not up skill and upscale this to
> > meet this demand for the 1 million laptops. Or is Madaraka over?
> >
> > Secondly , the target group, I think you have it right, whats this about
> > 'rural'? What is rural in Kenya? is it Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir, Nyeri,
> > Malindi, Kibira? We need a clear cut definition and probably a sector by
> > sector prioritization based on Vision 2030 and logically what will reap
> > benefit to the Kenyan economy. Don't get me wrong we must develop Kenyans
> > consistently with a strong plan not hide behind the Rural Urban divide.
> > I raise some of these concerns because last week I was eavesdropping on a
> > launch at one of our Key hotels in Kenya . A Major computer chip
> > manufacturer was launching their East African offices. They showcased
> > their effort being a certain school in Nairobi having received some
> > special student laptops and the school was showing how learning was
> > improved. All good, but the purpose of the Launch? To make an appeal to
> > the PS MOE to consider 'partnering' with this company to sell 240,000
> > laptops to the teachers in Kenya( wow I thought what a marketing gimic is
> > this how it's done?)Will this lead to a pronounce from MOE of some
> 240,000
> > Laptops for teachers???? Hook and bait? Anything further than this would
> > be speculation.
> >
> > I agree teachers need laptops (computers maybe), but once again can we
> > plan collectively as a government to work in unison and benefit locals on
> > employment and empowerment? It CAN be done.
> >
> > Which brings me to the reason for this email.
> >
> > Shouldnt there be some kinds of checks and balances in place in our
> > Ministries? Is there a way that 'we' can be involved before some of these
> > utterances are made?
> >
> > We have two PS's of different Ministries each thinking along the same
> > paths both with good ideas, but I worry on the path to execution. Of
> these
> > 1 million Laptops Ndemo speaks of - what percentage for his fellow
> > teachers? Jua Kali artisans?, Medical students. Is there a master plan
> > being followed? or is it pure chance ?
> >
> > Dr Ndemo,I am sure there is a simple enough response to the queries
> raised
> > above. I sincerely hope you will take the time to respond, and put my
> mind
> > and probably others as well? at rest.
> >
> > Ms. Basly.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________________
> >
> > Hi Dr. Ndemo,I felt it would not be fair to close the year with one final
> > outburst on your ministries policies.It was good to see that the
> > governement will be giving laptops to youth in the rural area.
> >
> http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/-/1006/499894/-/jh30hdz/-/index.html
> > Last time I checked 80% of the students in the University are from the
> > "rural areas" would it not make more sense to first equip them with the
> > necessary tools.  I recently talked to IT degree students at Nairobi
> > university and was shocked to  find that less than 5% have computers
> > dedicated to them and this are not provided by the institution but have
> > been bought privately.It is good to talk of empowering the rural folk but
> > is this the best way, should we not begin at the top and work our way
> > down.  This computers would also provide greater mileage if we example
> > they where to be giving to to students in teacher training colleges so
> > that they can take technology to the schools, country wide that they will
> > be posted to after they graduate?Also do not forget the medical students
> > who would be able to provide better medical services if they knew how to
> > use and had access to the internet's resources.Another major issue that
> is
> > lacking from the story is how the laptops are to be procured, is there
> any
> > likelihood that they will be assembled locally as if they are we shall be
> > killing to birds with 1 stone.
> >  Robert YaweKAY System Technologies LtdPhoenix House, 6th FloorP O Box
> > 55806 Nairobi, 00200Kenya
> > Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
> >
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-- 
Crystal "Naliaka" Watley
Voices of Africa
crystal at voicesofafrica.org
http://www.voicesofafrica.org/

"You must be the change you wish to see" - Gandhi
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