[kictanet] Legislation and Regulation for e-Commerce in Kenya

[Brian Munyao Longwe]

Well said Joe,

I would say,

- let the proffesionals "self-regulate" (if they see a need to do so)
- let industries (where certain resources are limited e.g frequency,  
right of way, etc) be regulated by an an *independent* sector regulator.
- let consumers act as the "equalizer" by "voting with their legs" and  
leaving/ boycotting services/products which they disapprove of

My two ndululu

Mblayo

Sent from my iPhone

On 07 Jul 2008, at 7:57 PM, "Joseph Manthi" <jmanthi at gmail.com> wrote:

> Brian
> I am quite impressed at your expert use of the iPhone.
>
> But to add my 2 cents:
>
> Lets not hasten in putting regulations against the practice of ICT -  
> whatever that it is - lest not we stop the development of our nation  
> and industry in its timid tracks. Let it be. Leave it alone. It will  
> fix itself.
>
> A good example, they were regulations around what people can and can  
> not do we would not have today the following technologies and  
> product lines which were created by people with no credentials and  
> any hope of getting the same:
>
> - Microsoft products - we all know of Bill Gates educational  
> background despite his PhD
> - Oracle products - Larry Ellison does not have a degree
> - Apple
> - Linux
>
> and other innumerable products that would have died on the vine if  
> they had been subjected to the kind of censorship I am seeing being  
> enumerated here.
>
> Please leave the industry alone. It is out of fear that one wants to  
> control.
>
> Joe
>
> On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 12:00 PM, Brian Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
> Hi Walu,
>
> I beg to differ. ICT is too large, too deep and too wide to have a
> single, authoritative, representative body. What you refer to would
> probably be more appropriate to some of the professional disciplines
> within the ICT sector e.g. Software Developers Guild, System
> Administrators Association, CIO/CTO Society - within which there can
> be certain codes of behavior, ethics, values, best practices etc...
>
> I would venture to suggest that ICT is very similar to the auto
> industry - which is made up of so many different types of stakeholders
> (from multi-national vendors like GM to Owino my jua-kali fundi and a
> plethora of linkages across insurance, finance, property, transport
> etc...)
>
> Not that I intend to put your suggestions down - but to request a
> slightly broader view of the animal called ICT.
>
> To illustrate this point I will wax poetic and share with you the
> following poem by John Godfrey Saxe ( 1816-1887)
>
> The Blind men and the Elephant
>
> It was six men of Indostan
> To learning much inclined,
> Who went to see the Elephant
> (Though all of them were blind),
> That each by observation
> Might satisfy his mind.
>
> The First approach'd the Elephant,
> And happening to fall
> Against his broad and sturdy side,
> At once began to bawl:
> "God bless me! but the Elephant
> Is very like a wall!"
>
> The Second, feeling of the tusk,
> Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
> So very round and smooth and sharp?
> To me 'tis mighty clear
> This wonder of an Elephant
> Is very like a spear!"
>
> The Third approached the animal,
> And happening to take
> The squirming trunk within his hands,
> Thus boldly up and spake:
> "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
> Is very like a snake!"
>
> The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
> And felt about the knee.
> "What most this wondrous beast is like
> Is mighty plain," quoth he,
> "'Tis clear enough the Elephant
> Is very like a tree!"
>
> The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
> Said: "E'en the blindest man
> Can tell what this resembles most;
> Deny the fact who can,
> This marvel of an Elephant
> Is very like a fan!"
>
> The Sixth no sooner had begun
> About the beast to grope,
> Then, seizing on the swinging tail
> That fell within his scope,
> "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
> Is very like a rope!"
>
> And so these men of Indostan
> Disputed loud and long,
> Each in his own opinion
> Exceeding stiff and strong,
> Though each was partly in the right,
> And all were in the wrong!
>
> MORAL.
>
> So oft in theologic wars,
> The disputants, I ween,
> Rail on in utter ignorance
> Of what each other mean,
> And prate about an Elephant
> Not one of them has seen!
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On 07 Jul 2008, at 12:45 PM, John Walubengo <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Marcel,
> >
> > It looks like quite some work has been ongoing in this
> > area...unfortunately it seems as if it was restricted within KIF
> > only?  I wonder if Computer Society of Kenya (CSK, Waudo r u there?)
> > or Information Security Audit & Control (ISACA-Kenya Chapter) just
> > to mention some of the big IT Associations in Kenya were involved. I
> > beg to be enlightened.
> >
> > This brings in an old question - who really represents the IT
> > Profession in Kenya?  Shem has been on record as saying that IT is
> > the only discipline where we seem to lack bodies with the same
> > authority as LSK (Law Society of Kenya), IEK (Institute of Engineers
> > of Kenya), Medical Practictioners Board amongst others to regulate
> > the IT Profession.
> >
> > And by the way, KICTAnet does not fit the bill either  (and has a
> > different objective anyway).  But time has come to really start
> > thinking of regulating the IT profession, even as we struggle to
> > regulate the industry...Ideally, CSK should take the lead on this,
> > but they have been awfully quite except when they award prizes at
> > the end of the year (Waudo I know u will kill me offline but I just
> > had to say it!).
> >
> > KEPSA? very reputable and effective particularly in the
> > Manufacturing sector but on IT? am not sure they have been as
> > effective - particularly because the link between KEPSA/KIF and the
> > IT industry has been 'cloudy' for lack of a better word...Can for
> > example CSK or ISACA  be part of KEPSA without being part of KIF? I
> > again need to be enlightened.
> >
> > O.K. I agree I did digress, but just thinking loudly and saying that
> > as we think of regulating electronic transactions, we also need to
> > simultaneously start regulating the IT profession..but maybe I am
> > wrong. Particularly because regulation can and often leads to
> > suppression...
> >
> > walu.
> > --- On Sun, 7/6/08, Marcel Werner <marcelcwerner at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> From: Marcel Werner <marcelcwerner at gmail.com>
> >> Subject: [kictanet] Legislation and Regulation for e-Commerce in
> >> Kenya
> >> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
> >> Cc: secretariat at kif.or.ke, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> >> >
> >> Date: Sunday, July 6, 2008, 6:43 PM
> >> Legislation and Regulation for e-Commerce in Kenya
> >>
> >> Kenya ICT Federation (KIF) - Briefing Note # 3  - Report -
> >> Public Panel 19
> >> June 2008
> >>
> >> *Electronic commerce (e-commerce) will add at least one
> >> percent point growth
> >> to Kenya's overall economic growth within five years.
> >> This is contingent
> >> upon the adoption of legislation that supports electronic
> >> transactions. *Kenya,
> >> as an emerging economy and regional leader, lags behind in
> >> having a legal
> >> framework for e-commerce in place. The current situation is
> >> an anachronism
> >> hampering national development, placing provincial centres
> >> at a
> >> disadvantage, and harming global competitiveness. Both
> >> external and internal
> >> trade require the new framework.The Kenyan private sector
> >> strongly supports
> >> e-commerce legislation, as well as legislation of the
> >> Information and
> >> Communication Technology sector that guarantees an open
> >> market and promotes
> >> innovation.
> >>
> >> Why e-commerce law? Today, legislation supporting
> >> electronic transactions
> >> represents the single most powerful innovation opportunity
> >> in the legal
> >> framework of the ICT sector. Legislation is needed to:
> >> -Legalize e-commerce transactions by recognizing an
> >> electronic signature
> >> -Manage and control e-commerce risks
> >> -Remove e-commerce barriers
> >> KIF has studied drafts currently circulating in the public
> >> domain, the
> >> Information and Communications Bill, 2008, and the
> >> Electronic Transactions
> >> Bill, 2007, respectively, both of which are of the highest
> >> technical
> >> standards. Public panels and hearings with sectors of the
> >> economy (including
> >> tourism, agriculture, ICT) have been held on 6th and 27th
> >> May, 4th June and
> >> 19th June. The Kenyan private sector has expressed
> >> overwhelming support for
> >> urgent legislation of e-commerce.
> >>
> >> Suggested improvements in Bills - The public panels and
> >> hearings to date
> >> have yielded the following important issues for improvement
> >> in the current
> >> Bills:
> >>
> >> -          Provisions on who can prosecute are missing
> >>
> >> -          Liability of Internet Service Providers must be
> >> demarcated
> >>
> >> -          Clarification on which commercial documents are
> >> excluded from
> >> proposed legislation
> >>
> >> -          Eliminate any ambiguity on admissibility of
> >> electronic evidence
> >>
> >> -          Need for data protection and privacy provisions
> >>
> >> -          The Bills are more lenient on e-commerce fraud
> >> than on
> >> traditional fraud
> >>
> >> -          Remove inconsistencies in determining crimes and
> >> punishments
> >>
> >> -          Provisions for the inclusion of cyber-crime
> >> within the scope of
> >> the Extradition Act
> >>
> >> -          Creation of an Administrator for e-commerce laws
> >> whose functions
> >> will be policy implementation and advisory, as a
> >> multi-sectoral body with
> >> industry associations including KIF, lead regulator
> >> Communications
> >> Commission of Kenya and co-regulator Central Bank of Kenya
> >>
> >> Gains in tourism, agriculture, healthcare
> >>
> >> Industry sectors, notably the tourism industry, are
> >> expressing their desire
> >> to see e-commerce covered by law. In tourism, on-line
> >> travel bookings have
> >> exceeded 80% in the USA and 50% in Europe. Decline in
> >> off-line bookings is
> >> in ample evidence. Those destinations that cannot legally
> >> support abundant
> >> on-line booking, such as Kenya, will loose market share.
> >> E-commerce in
> >> agriculture will improve small-holder's living
> >> standards. Great impact is
> >> expected notably in the coffee sector that provides
> >> livelihood to at least 5
> >> million Kenyans, as well as in the dairy industry.
> >> Healthcare efficiency and
> >> affordability will improve by on-line health data
> >> management systems.
> >> Business operators in rural towns and rural centres have
> >> also expressed keen
> >> interest, as they see scope to address issues of trade
> >> efficiency and
> >> security in rural Kenya.
> >>
> >> What is e-commerce
> >>
> >> E-commerce is a method of trading that replaces paper-based
> >> documentation by
> >> a mutually binding electronic protocol between buyers and
> >> sellers.
> >> E-commerce is gaining ground globally and has become an
> >> irreversible trend.
> >> Many trading partners are already practicing e-commerce, by
> >> mutual
> >> agreement, also in Kenya. However, e-commerce will reach
> >> its full potential
> >> when parties that do not know each other are able to trade
> >> with full mutual
> >> protection under the law. This will benefit large numbers
> >> of consumers and
> >> businesses, including small-holder farmers, tourism
> >> operators, small-scale
> >> industry and services providers in almost any business
> >> sector.
> >>
> >> About KIF
> >>
> >> The Kenya Information and Communication Technology
> >> Federation (KIF)
> >> represents the ICT industry with Government and with
> >> private sector bodies
> >> e.g. Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Kenya Private
> >> Sector Alliance
> >> KEPSA <http://www.kepsa.org/>. KIF is a legally
> >> registered membership based
> >> Association, made up of trade associations and professional
> >> bodies within
> >> the national ICT industry, as well as commercial
> >> corporations. KIF has been
> >> accepted as the private sector voice of ICT by Government.
> >> KIF contributes
> >> ideas to key sectors like healthcare, education,
> >> agriculture, construction
> >> industry, and last but not least supports e-government
> >> development. KIF is a
> >> membership-driven organisation. Members bring issues on
> >> public policy and
> >> industry development forward for KIF to take action. Issues
> >> include:
> >> innovation promotion, education improvement, duties, taxes
> >> and levies, rural
> >> ICT investment. KIF has a strong and active network, with
> >> excellent
> >> relationships with all government agencies. KIF membership
> >> is open for
> >> market segment associations and individual companies.
> >> Membership charges are
> >> annual and based on company size. Contact:
> >> secretariat at kif.or.ke, 020
> >> 4440102
> >> MARCEL WERNER, Chairman, Kenya ICT Federation
> >>
> >> please send any business mail to:
> >> Marcel.Werner at innovation-africa.or.ke_______________________________________________
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> >> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
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> >>
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> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
> -- 
> Joseph Manthi
> CEO
> MEO Ltd
> http://www.meoltd.com change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jmanthi%40gmail.com
>
>
>
> -- 
> Joseph Manthi
> CEO
> MEO Ltd
> http://www.meoltd.com
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