[kictanet] Vision 2030: ICT and Other Sectors Converged (Day 3)

Sat Dec 31 18:35:13 EAT 2011

Emmanuel,
Thank you.  As we usher the New Year I worry because we start the stractural implementation of the constitution.  Whereas the structure could be different, the players especially at county level will be the same or we may just be "changing hogs at the trough".  This is a political and social experiment we must not fail.

Like the vision 2030, the new dispensation must be owned by all of us.  We have a tendency to think somebody will do it for us.  No. The vision and the country is ours.  If you have not read either the vision or the constitution, ask.  There is no stupid question.  We should have asked Mugo such questions as: who owns the vision?  What does it seek to achieve? How does it relate to the constitution? etc.

I specifically brought the issue of ideology because the county officials will be a huge problem to local development.  Any time we lay fibre at local authority, we are charged different levies and demands for bribes goes up as you step up coverage.  Indeed I had to put Wajir County Clerk in Jail until the contractor finished laying cable through the towm.  They are even beggining to levy tax on base stations. Our problems to create universal access to internet will multiply by 47 times. This is because most local leadership has no idea how government relates to enterprise.  My aim is to create sufficient capacity to explain existing theories of politics and economics.

In the period after indepedence we largely failed and got away with it.  This time round we cannot afford to fail.  The outcome will be catastrophic.  We need each one of us to play a role in shaping our future.  Our Ministry in conjuction with e-government will ensure connectivity to all counties by June 2012.  We want to roll out all accountability applications by the same deadline.  Whatever we do can only be successive if there is strong support from the public.  Through Open Data initiatives we shall ensure that spending is monitored by the public.  Therefore success depends on your participation by  taking time to follow up and ask questions.

Government alone cannot ensure transparency.  The public must question every step.  We must make the elected leaders account for their decisions.  Solomon should not sound dejected about KPLC when we have representation.  From this forum we can escalate the issue to beyond Parliament.  But because we always think somebody will do it, we get into a frustration mode and complain when things go wrong.

Hon. Rege who is Parliamentary Chairman of the Energy Committee is on this list.  We can summon him as our representative to have a serious discussion on our future energy needs.  In this list we have journalists that we can ask to highlight our fears.  If we those who are privileged to have such discourse can sound frustrated, what will a hungry Turkana woman say?

Kenya is a land of opportunity.  It is a beautiful country.  Can we all stand up for it in 2012?

Ndemo.

Sent from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: "Emmanuel K. Nzai" <enzai at vision2030.go.ke>
Sender: kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.keDate: Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:25:10 
To: <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Vision 2030: ICT and Other Sectors Converged (Day 3)

Solomon,
A very quick response to CORRECT you. Please read Dr. Ndemo's comment on Mugo's moderation and listers' engagement below:

....." Mugo is one of the most accomplished Kenyan having risen to the pinnacle of both Private and Public sectors in Kenya.  I got the feeling that we treated him with kid gloves.  I did not see any question with respect to our expectation of the public in achieving the vision"....

With all due respect, you either read too fast or completely misunderstood the English language. Simply, Dr. Ndemo is challenging the listers like you to up your game in engaging Mugo and Vision 2030 - Not the other way round.

Pls. Your perspective on Energy and Vision 2030 is right on point. Let up it!

Emmanuel Nzai

-----Original Message-----
From: Solomon Mbũrũ Kamau [mailto:solo.mburu at gmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 7:50 AM
To: enzai at vision2030.go.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Vision 2030: ICT and Other Sectors Converged (Day 3)

Dr. Ndemo,
With due respect, I find your comment on listers' popints to Mr. Mugo
not satisfying (to your expectations). However, in the foregoing, I
understand that most of us were not privy to the conception of the
Vision 2030, and perhaps, we were raisin issues per what we see
happening, for example on energy. Kenya Power as a monopoly enjoys
100% benefit in the power sector, yet in the ccompetitive and
liberalized world, competition thrives when the market is not capped
on one firm. Kenya Power, while being good in blackouts, stills enjoys
support from the government, yet as we speak about achieving the
Vision, energy is the most important aspect driving us towards the
realization of the flashship projects pointed out.
Generally, without education, there is nothing like achieving
development in it's full scale.

In my view, I think the contributors interrogating Mr. Mugo did their
level best to make the Vision clear in a layman language, more
sepcifically, Mr. Mugo himself.

Regards,

Solomon

On 31/12/2011, bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke> wrote:
> Eric,
> I am not done with your questions yet.  On Government blocking investment in
> energy.  This is what we are trying to address: The role of government in
> enterprise.  If you go deeper into Schumpeter's theory, you will find that
> no government can block an idea or innovation whose time has come.
>
> When Graham Bell invented the telephone, the British Post dismissed the idea
> saying there were enough messengers around.  With the invention of mobile
> telephony, the land line is undergoing the same fate it brought to
> communication early in the 20th century.  This is what is called "creative
> destruction".
>
> We must understand this theory if indeed we want to survive in the days to
> come.  In my recent visit to China, I saw what the future would be like.  A
> city the size of Nairobi is using both solar and wind energy to light up
> street lights.  This innovation even in Kenya does not require government
> approval.  Further we have enriched the Arab world far too long when we use
> parrafin to power our rudimentally oil lamps.  Instead we should by now have
> provided a simple battery, a solar panel and a micro wind vane to every
> household for energy supply.  This will save us billions of dollars that we
> can invest in preventive medical care.
>
> Your problem is that you want to replicate what you have seen in advanced
> economies.  Your approach would fail.  You must first create the market
> through simple understandable solutions.  The demands for energy will then
> be incremental such that even if you were to build 10,000 MW you have a
> ready market.
>
> On colonialism;  This is non sense in my view.  Those who colonized us are
> dead and most of those who were colonized are dead too.  We must not forget
> that this happened but our focus should be to build confidence in ourselves
> to face the world.  Take China for example, Japan dominated them but they
> have not spent their lives grumbling about the past.  They have faced up to
> Japan and today they compete on an equal footing.
>
> Although parts of Africa are still under the French colony, you must be
> grateful that the British colonized us.  The British were only interested in
> domination and material wealth.  The French's integration approach still has
> implications on their colonies.  Indeed as I write there are Africans in
> Africa who consider themselves French.  There are African states that still
> pay French tax.  Mineral resources on African continent still belong to
> France.
>
> I have nothing against the French.  If our Francophone brothers feel
> comfortable this way, let it be.  The best we can do is to face up to our
> colonial power, leverage on the Common Wealth
> Association to build a new alliance that benefits all of us.  Together we
> have more voting power and ability to lead the agenda.
>
>
> Regards.
>
> Ndemo.
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry®
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Eric M.K Osiakwan" <emko at internetresearch.com.gh>
> Sender: kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.keDate: Fri,
> 30 Dec 2011 15:51:57
> To: <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Subject: [kictanet]  Vision 2030: ICT and Other Sectors Converged (Day 3)
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke
>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/solo.mburu%40gmail.com
>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>

_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet

Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/enzai%40vision2030.go.ke

The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.

KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet

Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke

The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.

KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.