[kictanet] KCCT, BPO training, Board Member? Conflict of interest inevitable

Thu May 8 00:20:00 EAT 2008

Betty,

I agree experience and expertise gets one appointed to boards. I
think the issue comes in when one starts doing business with the same
institution in which they are board members. That I believe is a
clear NO, whether or not interests are declared in advance. I think
as a country we should have these bear minimum non-negotiables if we
really want to "walk our talk" of transparency and accountability.

I agree guidelines need to be in place, in the absence of these
guidelines, integrity should prevail.

I know of funding organizations in which if a staff member serves as
board members of an institution, the said institution or affiliate
institutions of other board members cannot apply for project funding
from that organization. Should they do so, then the staff member from
that funding organization would have to resign from the Board.

I think these are the kind of principles we want to adopt and not
negotiate about them.

Edith

>
>
>
>---- Original Message ----
>From: ogange at yahoo.com
>To: eadera at idrc.or.ke
>Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCCT,  BPO training, Board Member? Conflict
>of interest inevitable
>Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 13:57:59 -0700 (PDT)
>
>><table cellspacing='0' cellpadding='0' border='0' ><tr><td
>style='font: inherit;'><BR>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New
>Roman">Edith,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
>"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
>/><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New
>Roman">I like your firmness about it but I tend to agree with Walu.
>In my view, conflict of interest is inevitable here. <SPAN
>style="mso-spacerun:
>yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
>size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New
>Roman">I suppose that when one gets appointed to the ICT Board, the
>appointing authority has recognised that the person being appointed
>is more than a little passionate about ICTs and how it can be / is
>being used to change the world around him/her. The appointee is
>likely to be already playing really well in some corner of the
>planet, and it is this knowledge and experience that the persons
>appointed to the Board will fall back on to help them effectively
>accomplish whatever their roles demand of them. Appointment to the
>Board therefore automatically presupposes some degree of potential
>conflict of interest. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
>size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New
>Roman">Members of the Board should therefore be bound by a policy
>that not only calls for full disclosure of potential conflict of
>interest but also addresses such conflict where it was not
>premeditated. If managed on the transparent platform that the ICT
>Board promises, then the Board members can continue with their
>personal businesses and also with the complex business of ‘making
>Kenya a regional ICT Hub’ within the set time-frames.
><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
>size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New
>Roman">Resignation, even when it is a ‘personal’ decision, is harsh
>if there were no guidelines in the first instance. We need to see
>continuity and unity of purpose to realise this big dream. The
>continued absence of such guidelines can only complicate the lives of
>the Board members and distract them from making contributions to the
>country as they should. We, the public, also continue to be extremely
>sensitive about anything involving any one of them – we have every
>right anyway. But we need to see people step down or resign because
>everybody understands that certain specific rules of engagement were
>broken. What we urgently need to see, as Walu suggests, are some
>guidelines. Take anyone from this list and put them in the Board and
>I can bet they will not want to close shop because they are in the
>Board – the
>> passions do not die with the appointment.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New
>Roman"></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </P>
>><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
>style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New
>Roman">Betty<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
>><P> </P>
>><P><BR>--- On <B>Wed, 5/7/08, eadera at idrc.or.ke
><I><eadera at idrc.or.ke></I></B> wrote:<BR></P>
>><BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT:
>rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">From: eadera at idrc.or.ke
><eadera at idrc.or.ke<BR>Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCCT, BPO training,
>Board Member?<BR>To: "Betty Ogange" <ogange at yahoo.com><BR>Cc:
>"KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions"
><kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke><BR>Date: Wednesday, May 7,
>2008, 9:42 PM<BR><BR><PRE>Walu,
>>
>>I'm not sure that conflict of interest can be "sugar coated". For
>>transparency and accountability sake, it MUST be a clear cut NO.
>>
>>Edith
>>
>>
>>
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