[kictanet] Of Presidential directives and policy

[Betty Ogange]

Listers,
I have read with great interest the directive by the President to the Ministry of Information and Communication to ‘come up with’ programmes for the training and development of the youth nationwide after the launch of the fibre optic cable.
http://www.information.go.ke/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=478 
 
This, he rightly says, will ‘catch the generation of truly digital Kenyans.’  I think it is a timely assertion coming from the Head of State. However, I have a feeling that if the directive had been aimed at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and the Ministry of Education, then the Ministry of ICT would play its default role of providing the infrastructural and related support to enable these two Ministries (and any other Ministries with similar programmes) to expand the training programmes that already exist and initiate new ones.  I am not aware of the full structure of the Ministry of ICT but I suspect that taking full responsibility of initiating or co-ordinating youth training in ICT countrywide might overstretch its already crowded mandate. Again, if our accountability processes still hold, then the President will at some point expect to be briefed by the Ministry of ICT on how far the directive has progressed. At this point, I see some
 difficulties with agency and responsibility for outcomes.
 
Which leads me to ask: How does a presidential directive convert to actionable policy? What has been the success level of such directives in the ICT sector? How might a directive like this one be actioned without power games coming into play? 
 
Any ideas?
Betty
 
 
 
 
 


      
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