[kictanet] Election fiasco reveals Technological dinosaurs

Wed Jan 9 10:35:11 EAT 2008

Robert,

Maybe we should start campaigning for all vernacular stations to be
shut. I don't think they add so much value, in any case we have a fairly
literal community in Kenya and I'm almost sure there are very few in
Kenya who cannot understand Kiswahili and English. In any case the cost
of teaching Basic English and Swahili languages to those who do not know
is cheaper than what we have lost in one week. What happened last week
has never happened since independence and probably the main cause is the
vernacular radio stations which have drastically increased in the last
3-5 years with their inciting messages and statements.

Best Regards,

James Kagwe

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From: robert yawe [mailto:robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 10:17 AM
To: James Kagwe
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Election fiasco reveals Technological dinosaurs

Hi Kagwe,

Why is it that tribal issues are most violent outcome among poor?  I
believe because they suffer from more than economic poverty but also
associative poverty.  

When the Luo's call their shanty villages Kisumu Ndogo and the Kikuyu's
Kwanjenga we refuse to create diversity of association and thus loose
the opportunity for cultural wealth.  The creation of vernacular radio
stations has not helped the issue either.  We have become worse had
implementing ethnic segregation than God or the colonizers, the Boars
cannot hold up a candle to us.  What this does is it makes it
uncomfortable for me and my neighbour to listen to radio together
because he is Luo and I am what I am.

With a literacy level of 60% why are we cowering into our tribal cocoons
instead of becoming more cohesive.  I believe that Kiswahili and English
programing should take up 80% of all radio station content otherwise we
might as well have the parliamentarians take a vernacular proficiency
test to be allowed to participate in elections and also have our
national exams done in vernacular.

Who funds this radio channels that propagate ethnicity, its the
Breweries, Safaricoms, Bidcos and Coca Colas as their only objective is
a profit.  They then walk around flounting their CSR (or should it be
CPR - corporate profit responsibility) programs, if they refused to
support all this ethnic stations their CSR programs might be more
effective. After supporting KASS FM and others they will now be running
to Eldoret to give blankets to people who where, as of 27th December,
self reliant before the radio station broadcast inflammatory contents
soon after the commercial message.

The lawyers have got us to this impasse when they arm-twisted the Moi
government to issue all with radio frequencies, similarly to what they
did for Rwanda.  As history teaches us we never learn from it, we are
moving full steam towards ethnic cleansing. 

Let us us make use of technology to broadcast information that will
bring us together, lets run completions that test our knowledge of other
ethnic groups.  Lets install computers in our rural schools and have the
children send e-mails to each other across the country, not those
misguided projects that get Kenyan children to communicate with kids in
Europe & the US.  We have the technology that allows us to implement
solutions that do not require parliamentary approval or a government
license. Awake and stop this lip service on the issue of ethnicity we
are all responsible for getting this country to where it is today.  Do
we have what it takes to change course.

Yes, I do know the causes and like a typical Kenyan I know the solutions
but only discuss them on forums instead of taking action.  Like a serial
killer I am looking to be stopped, can someone push me to act on my
theories?

Regards

Robert Yawe
KAY System Technologies Ltd
Phoenix House, 6th Floor
P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
KEnya

Tel: +254722511225

----- Original Message ----
From: James Kagwe <jkagwe at KIPPRA.OR.KE>
To: robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Tuesday, 8 January, 2008 3:09:19 PM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Election fiasco reveals Technological dinosaurs

Please let us know that the problem we are having in the country now is
more in the mind than anywhere else. Technology could help but even with
technology it is possible for people who have the same tribal
convictions that their tribal chief has to be the president to conspire
to inflate the polls and actually go ahead and mark the ballot papers in
favor of their candidate.

Tribalism is the main problem and this has to be fought by all means.
Most of the problems were experienced in the strongholds of the main
candidates and this confirms the greatest worry.

________________________________

From: kictanet-bounces+jkagwe=kippra.or.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+jkagwe=kippra.or.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On
Behalf Of Evelyn Rono
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 12:29 PM
To: James Kagwe
Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Election fiasco reveals Technological dinosaurs

Hi Bobby,

Several ICT companies and individuals approached the ECK with the
intention of  supporting and a managing the process with ICT.    I quote
" ECK in 2004 was provided with IT hardware & software and GIS electoral
database created with each individual polling station positions' mapped
using GIS technology that integrated with the electoral database through
a unique ID for polling station.  The constituency boundaries provided
the domain universe within which each polling station could be located
for administrative purposes.  Training was also conducted for ECK".  The
same company tried to do the same 2007

This did not happen - Only ECK knows.

Evelyn Rono

From: kictanet-bounces+evelyn.rono=kdn.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+evelyn.rono=kdn.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On
Behalf Of robert yawe
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 11:51 AM
To: evelyn.rono at kdn.co.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: [kictanet] Election fiasco reveals Technological dinosaurs

Happy new year to you all and I pray that you are all well.

It is shocking that in this day and age we can actually have the kind of
electoral fiasco that has been visited on us by the ECK and Co as well
as the political parties.

This draconian problem reared its head when the Orange house was broken
into and the computers stolen.  Hon.Nyongo's statement indicated that
the objective was to steal the member register.  If I needed to steal
the register which from his comments was in electronic form what was the
need of taking off with the computer.  Has he ever heard of flash disks,
external hard dis drives and CD/DVD writers.  Technology allows me to
steal his data without him every knowing.

After this issue Kivuiti dismissed the SMS service that had been made
available by Telkom to enable voters confirm their details.  He even
went to the extent of saying he does not know how to send an SMS.  As
the IT fraternity in the country can we really escape blame for this
fiasco?

The next time was when  I saw Hon. Ruto standing at KICC and screaming
himself hoarse over the forms 16 & 16A that had not been received.  It
seems he might be using a Nokia 1018 mobile phone (he actually uses a
Nokia N series).  

Was it so difficult for the opposition to provide each of their agents
with a camera equipped mobile phone that they would have used to to take
pictures of the form and also record the returning officer announcing
the results.  This would then have been easily sent to party head
quarters.

There are 210 or so constituencies in the country and the mobile phones
I am talking about cost about 10,000/- each do the math. 

I ask am I the only Kenyan who is aware of such technology or is this
entire fiasco a stage managed process.  Even the EU observer teams came
equipped as if it was the 12th Century after which they proceeded to
make unsupported statements about the result that further inflamed
bloodshed.

Maybe its a techie thing to keep in our glass houses and refuse to add
value to a process and only send around message (this one included)
after the fact.  

It is re-assuring when we remember the Florida fiasco but this not
withstanding do we really have a moral standing to point fingers about
the election results?

What will be our contribution to stopping this from being repeated in
future?

Regards

Remember Matiba and his video cameras during the good old days of
mulolongo voting?

Robert Yawe
KAY System Technologies Ltd
Phoenix House, 6th Floor
P O Box 55806 Nairobi , 00200
KEnya

Tel: +254722511225

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