[kictanet] Governance vs Utiliterianism

[Al Kags]

I am studying an interesting report on the governance of pioneering public projects that are geared towards increasing competitiveness of a country. Such projects could include, TEAMS, the ROOLA project and the Athi River Plantation project. 

On the one hand, there is the thinking that the government must act fast and intuitively to lay such projects on the ground to ensure that the country has the facilities it requires for its people to be competitive. A good example of this is TEAMS, where the government had to act fast to increase Kenya's competitiveness.

In many cases, this fast action, by necessity circamvents the existing law because the law doesn't change as intuitively. Take TEAMS: people who are versed in questions of governance have put the government to task on its governance. They say that while the government has acted in the public's best interest and with integrity on this project (this is the one large scale government project that hasn't taken decades and has no scandal), it may have gone beyond existing operational law, which sets a precedent that can be misused.

I am trying to gain perspective on this issue. What have other countries done with their laws where they have found themselves needing to move quickly beyond the existing law? How did they ensure no reduction in speed of delivery of competitive public service despite the slow changing, sometimes complicated legal process?

If you have opinions as well as materials I could read/watch/listen to, I would be most interested.

Al Kags