[kictanet] Universal Access in Kenya (Is it really working?)

Fri Dec 3 10:36:25 EAT 2010

Fellow Kenyans,

What I found rather profound during the dialogue was Dr. Gituro Wainaina's
observation that we are doing badly in some of those poverty dimensions *not
because* we do not have national capacity (for broadband etc). Later on I
thought and realised that like Crystal, Pius and Edith are observing, the
Digital village and Pasha projects have remained merely on paper for the
last couple of years. I stand corrected but it appears these initiatives are
also pegged on yet another incomplete project - the NOFBI project (which was
somehow declared complete sometime in 2009).

Does anyone know how the implementers of the digital village, pasha and
NOFBI projects are fairing in government *performance contracting*. I get
this feeling the institutions responsible score themselves high on these
projects yet the projects' customers are still waiting for the services to
get to them. Sorry to sound negative but I think there is a general lack of
'*customer focus*' among our public institutions.

On a related note, has anyone had luck publicly retrieving *performance
contract reports* of government institutions?

Regards

On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 8:37 PM, Crystal Watley Kigoni <
crystal at voicesofafrica.org> wrote:

> I couldn't agree more. We have spent years working on models that work
> for rural communities in Kenya only to face challenge after challenge.
> The sad part is that while the models were developed for Kenya and
> have limited deployment here and are in great demand by other
> countries.
>
> You can see examples of our work at www.voicesofafrica.org.
>
>
> On 12/2/10, Pius Walela <PWalela at strathmore.edu> wrote:
> > Dear Edith ,
> >
> > Concur  there is sufficient  human capital contrary  to Rwanda ,
> ironically
> > there is no actual  dissemination  of services  to the BOP....there is
> dire
> > need  to  hasten  the trickle  down   effect. However mobile
>  technologies
> > can  serve as a key  to  overcome  this challenge...
> >
> > Regards.
> >
> > From: Edith Adera [mailto:eadera at idrc.or.ke]
> > Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 6:04 PM
> > To: Pius Walela
> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> > Subject: RE: Universal Access in Kenya (Is it really working?)
> >
> > Dear Pius,
> >
> > I'm not sure that I see any pasha and digital villages around. We "talk"
> > about them, yes. The study shows that we need to do more than "talk".
> Rwanda
> > stands tall when it comes to universal access while they are struggling
> with
> > human capital. We stand tall on human capital, but unfortunately don't
> have
> > these services penetrating to the rural and remote areas (bottom of the
> > pyramid) where they can begin to make a difference in addressing the
> > multi-dimensional aspects of poverty!
> >
> > Edith.
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Pius Walela [mailto:PWalela at strathmore.edu]
> > Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 5:42 PM
> > To: Edith Adera
> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> > Subject: RE: Universal Access in Kenya (Is it really working?)
> >
> > Key  challenge  is the implementation. Its true   there is substantial
> > progress (Pasha ,Digital villages etc) what  is  lacking is the necessary
> > structure and impetus to actually do  what is necessary.
> >
> > From: kictanet-bounces+pwalela=strathmore.edu at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> > [mailto:kictanet-bounces+pwalela <kictanet-bounces%2Bpwalela>=
> strathmore.edu at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On
> > Behalf Of Edith Adera
> > Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 5:10 PM
> > To: Pius Walela
> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> > Subject: [kictanet] Universal Access in Kenya (Is it really working?)
> >
> > Listers,
> >
> > For those of you who missed the ICT/Poverty conference this morning, one
> of
> > the prominent issues that came out is the fact that Kenya is NOT doing
> > enough to address universal access to communication services! As a
> result,
> > issues of vulnerability, asset poverty and physical poverty (access to
> > services) persist! Comparative results from our neighbours in East Africa
> > shows that they are scoring on some of these issues.
> >
> > There's talk of digital villages and the UA Fund - yet there is no
> delivery!
> > what's not going right?
> >
> > Edith
> >
> > ________________________________
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> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Crystal "Naliaka" Watley Kigoni
> Executive Director
> Voices of Africa for Sustainable Development
> crystal at voicesofafrica.org
> http://www.voicesofafrica.org/
>
> Intersat Africa, Ltd
> Rural Internet Kiosks
> Project Coordinator
> crystal.kigoni at intersat.ae
>
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>
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>
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