[kictanet] Independence of CCK?

Tue Jul 29 15:14:39 EAT 2008

Waudo, independence is  a difficult parameter to measure  and also
quite subjective. Remember regulators do not operate in a vacuum, the
necessary statutory frameworks in which they will operate must be
created, they are established by an act of parliament and historically
also pursuant to the World Trade Organization (WTO) reference Paper
that required countries to establish communication regulators separate
from operators, many governments went ahead and established
structurally independent regulators.   In our case the Kenya
Communications Act (please read it....it answers a lot of your
questions ;-) ). This also makes regulatory authorities government
entities and all government entities are somewhat subject to political
influence.

Granted, the level of independence affects the sector and it is
important that governments create and maintain an environment
conducive to good governance for regulatory success. So on the one
hand, it means the CCK must guarantee  an arms-length relationship
with private sector and other branches of government and the other
hand establish clear rules that will govern matters such as
implementation of authority, funding etc.

The EU, for example,  guarantees the independence of national
regulatory authorities by ensuring that "national regulatory
authorities shall be legally distinct from and functionally
independent of all organizations providing telecommunications
networks, equipment or services," and further affirms that "Member
States that retain ownership or a significant degree of control of
organizations providing telecommunications networks and/or services
shall ensure effective structural separation of the regulatory
function from activities associated with ownership or control." EU
Revised ONP Framework Directive 90/387/EC, 10 June 1997, available at
http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/infosoc/legreg/telecom.html#Directives%20Lib.

best

alice

The views above are personal and not a reflection of any of the
organizations I am affiliated with.

2008/7/28 waudo siganga <emailsignet at mailcan.com>:
> Hi Brian - I am intrigued by your announcement praising the "independence"
> of the CCK. I would like to put your assertions to debate. I am not sure how
> you define "independence". To me it means the organization is not controlled
> by any of its stakeholders in its decision-making. So who are the
> stakeholders? Sometime back it was only Government and some "private
> sector". We have recently correctly included civil society. Maybe we need to
> add the technical community as well as academia. I cannot recall the
> provisions of the enabling instrument (Info and Comms Act) but the point I
> would like to make is that all the reps of the "stakeholders" on the Board
> are appointed BY THE GOVERNMENT. I am open to correction but I cannot recall
> any point in time when the private sector has been approached to nominate
> private sector reps to the CCK Board. Perhaps same for other stakeholders.
> If the resultant Board ends up being described as "Independent" then perhaps
> my online dictionary has been hit hard by a virus. Compare this with
> Government bodies like the Public Procurement Oversight Authority. The
> enabling instrument, Public Procurement  and Disposals Act 2005 clearly sets
> forth how the governing organs like the Advisory Board are set up. There is
> a bottom up participatory process where stakeholders, including
> associations, are empowered by the Act to nominate persons they know well
> from their industry spheres, and the Minister for Finance makes his final
> selections only from the resultant list. Somewhere in that Act the Computer
> Society of Kenya is listed explicitly as a nominating agency.

 I have never
> seen such provisions in the Board nomination processes for ICT related
> public entities including the CCK. Maybe if you have better information you
> can let me know the process how the Board of CCK gets to be populated then
> hopefully I can believe you that CCK is "independent".

Well....you should have a look at the Kenya Communications Act 1998

best
alice

> Waudo
>
> On Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:54:13 +0300, "Brian Longwe" <blongwe at gmail.com> said:
>
> Bw Wafula,
>
> I can assure you - after many years of working with regulators and operators
> across all of Africa Kenya has the most independent, proffesional and
> focused regulatory authority.
>
> Take a look at South Africa - capture - spells out what ICASA has been under
> since inception
>
> What country can you point to that has the levels of independence and
> autonomy that CCK has.
>
> Brian
>
> On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 10:15 AM, joseph wafula <muliaro at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> I congratulate Mr Njoroge for the appointment as DG for CCK, however I
>> still find the criteria used weak if what was in last Saturday Nation
>> newspaper was part of the criteria. What is clear is that we are far from
>> expecting CCK to meet WTO expectation of an independent regulator. CCK is
>> strongly under what I term "political capture".  The issue of salary one
>> earns as a prerequisite for short-listing for the post makes it even worse
>> in my view. What is the future for such criteria in the eyes of all
>> stakeholders particularly those in private sector, Foregn Direct Investors
>> etc? the question is, how can such officer be free from government influence
>> and special interest? Perhaps the criteria of appointment need to be revised
>> to give an independent outfit and sectoral professionalsm to CCK DG
>> position.
>>
>>
>>
>> Dr Muliaro Wafula
>>
>> Lecturer JKUAT & Director
>>
>> Kenya E-governance and E-Content Backbone
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Wed, 7/23/08, Shem Ochuodho <shemochuodho at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> From: Shem Ochuodho <shemochuodho at yahoo.com>
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] New DG
>> To: muliaro at yahoo.com
>> Cc: "New Vision List" <newvisionkenya at yahoogroups.com>, "Robert
>> Onyango-Alai" <alai.robert at gmail.com>, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions"
>> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 6:14 AM
>>
>> Dougi,
>>
>>
>>
>> Of course Google (and its variants!) has never been the only method to
>> gauge qualification! Sadly, it is/they are the only measure we have these
>> days, especially for ICT!
>>
>>
>>
>> Brian, I have never known in any profession what you say to be a parameter
>> for qualification or eligibility. Otherwise if it were, wouldn't people like
>> Atieno Ochola (gender notwithstanding), Matano Ndaro, Michael Katundu, John
>> Omo, and many more at CCK be as much deserving?
>>
>>
>>
>> Lest am asked: 'declare your interest', let me do so. The other day I
>> noticed an MP (who is either a present or past CCK director) contribute to a
>> motion on CCK without 'declaring interest'; he was lucky to get away with
>> it. I too applied for this job, not because I expected to be considered, but
>> to find out if Kenya had changed; if we had moved on to a New Kenya where it
>> didn't matter where [in Kenya] you came from, who you knew, whose
>> son/daughter you had married, etc. We do not seem to have learnt from the
>> events of the turn of the [last] year! Kenya appears to be sitting on a time
>> bomb. Formation of the coalition does not seem to have detonated it.
>>
>>
>>
>> I have previously contended that Kenyan informaticians are endangered. How
>> right I am/was. The words 'mediocricity, political expediency, ethnic
>> bigotry' keep ringing on my ears. So, it now appears we cannot find an
>> eligible informatician to lead CCK and we have to get an economist! I wait
>> for the day, for instance, when the IMF shall be headed by an informatician,
>> or one James Rege shall be Finance Minister! Short of the ICT professionals
>> organizing themselves and regaining their space, we have a long wait.
>>
>>
>>
>> Best rgrds,
>>
>> Shem
>>
>> --- On Mon, 7/21/08, Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> From: Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] New DG
>> To: "Shem Ochuodho" <shemochuodho at yahoo.com>
>> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> Date: Monday, July 21, 2008, 5:54 PM
>>
>> IMHO Njoroge has been "the power behind the throne" for every one of the
>>  last DGs. I think he will make an excellent leader. His time has come.
>> Congrats Bw Njoroge
>> Brian
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> On 21 Jul 2008, at 9:32 PM, "waudo siganga" <emailsignet at mailcan.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Anyone with background info on new DG? Google only has the appointment dd
>> 21/7
>>
>> On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:40:24 +0300, "Wainaina Mungai"
>> <wainaina at madeinkenya.org> said:
>>
>> I would assume Nyaki meant "effective engagement" rather than "effective
>> management"
>>
>> Regards
>> Wainaina
>>
>> On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 4:45 PM, Catherine Adeya <elizaslider at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Walu,
>>>
>>> Your suggestion for 3.5 is good though I think it should simply be 'How
>>> to organize Associations for Effective Managment with the Government.
>>>
>>> Unless I heard wrong, KTN Sunrise news this morning announced Mr Charles
>>> Kinyanjui Njoroge as the new CCK DG.
>>>
>>> Nyaki
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>> From: John Walubengo <jwalu at yahoo.com>
>>> To: elizaslider at yahoo.com
>>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>> Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 2:31:33 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Forum Agenda - Lets focus
>>>
>>> Harry,
>>>
>>> Indeed it would be a public forum - but to what extend has the message
>>> gone  outside Nairobi given that most listservers have subscribers in NRB?
>>> Maybe there's need to have the traditional notice in the print media.
>>>
>>> As for the Agenda proposed and copied below,
>>> 1.      Forum Objectives
>>> 2.      Association presentations
>>> 3.      General Discussion
>>> 4.      Way forward
>>>
>>> I would add - 3.5. How to Organise the different Associations for
>>> effective engagement with Govt.
>>>
>>> walu.
>>> nb: meanwhile, unconfirmed reports from my moles indicate that a new DG
>>> for CCK has been unveiled. Anybody with such a copy?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
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>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Brian Munyao Longwe
> e-mail: blongwe at gmail.com
> cell: + 254 722 518 744
> blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com
> meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com
>
> People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).
>
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