[kictanet] Failed States Index 2012 - Kenya #16, Somalia #1, Libya #50 (???),

Thu Jun 21 14:35:37 EAT 2012

Dr. Rigia,

not to worry too much.  These researchers have been declaring Kenya  a failed state for the last consecutive 4yrs. It has not stopped the Chinese from coming to invest.  So i think the rating does more harm to western investors than to ourselves (Kenyans).

Meanwhile, we continue to enjoy scenic beaches, amazing wildlife and panoramic mountains and valleys. And I almost forgot - we continue leading the world on mobile money technologies and usage, not to mention soon to come Konza City (do I say?).

So you see, I really do not to worry too much about these ratings (perhaps as someone said, they keep those NGO-types in business)

walu.

--- On Thu, 6/21/12, Warigia Bowman <warigia at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Warigia Bowman <warigia at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Failed States Index 2012 - Kenya #16, Somalia #1, Libya #50 (???),
To: jwalu at yahoo.com
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Date: Thursday, June 21, 2012, 2:04 PM

The list makes no sense, really. I am in Egypt, which is currently a military dictatorship, and yet it is ranked higher than Kenya, which in my view is a somewhat functional democracy with authoriarian elements. Yet the list gives Egypt a better score than Kenya. It is ridiculous. 

On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Kivuva <Kivuva at transworldafrica.com> wrote:

Syria, 7 places adrift! With 17,000+ casualties, 35,000 wounded, and 250,000 refugees, and still fighting in the uprising, how can they be better than Kenya?

On 21 June 2012 13:16, Kivuva <Kivuva at transworldafrica.com> wrote:

Francis,
Thank you for bringing this up. I think the ratings are more to do with perception than reality. Most of the negative that make us rank so poorly is our own creation. What about thousands of NGOs taking pictures of slums, drought and starving children then run to western donors begging for cash to "HELP" the poor they "REPRESENT"! This has ruined the developing world's image beyond measure. Our own PRESS is also a major problem. I don't see western country publish widely sensationalizing  their homeless, street gangs, mafia, and grand grand corruption, as we do ours. 

In recent times, I have seen our leaders, including PS Ndemo insist on positive reporting from our media. That is the direction we should seek. If we instill cockiness in the direction of 
narcissism, then the west will stop taking us for granted.

Self Love

On 21 June 2012 10:47, Francis Hook <francis.hook at gmail.com> wrote:

Apologies this is not mainstream ICT but at the periphery some ICT

aspects need to be considered as well...(open access to information,

ICT enabling democracy/choice/transparency, ICT in corruption, etc) .

This index is by the US group Fund for Peace.   I wonder what metrics

they are using or how they are weighting the values of the 13 indices

they use.

Kenya is ranked 16th...that's just 15 steps away from Somalia (???),

14 from DRC and shares the "teens" positions with Pakistan, Nigeria,

Niger among others. The lower the  score, the more "failed" a state

is.

Anyway....the links:

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Failed_States_Index

(updated with 2012 Index)

2 - http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failed_states_index_2012_interactive

Personally I don't think Kenya should rate that poorly out of a 177 or

so countries...I suspect some of the 13 indices are weighted more

heavy than others (corruption, criminality, political situation etc) -

and if such were removed from the index, just for the sake of seeing

how it shifts the rankings, I'd like to think some EU countries would

be in the top 50 at least....social unrest, steep economic decline,

slum creation (US - housing/mortgage crisis has seen more people

living in the streets in the last couple of years than in the last

half a century), Wall Street demos, etc, ...."Suspension or arbitrary

application of law" (Guantano Bay still open for business, The

Patriots Act).

And "Intervention of external political agents" - I think in Africa's

case these "political agents" are usually from (or supported/fronted)

by some developing countries that would want to nurture certain

regimes in order to reap some economic gain...but that's an argument

for another day.

I'm also surprised the use of the adjective "primitive" by Korean

Airlines, to describe Kenyans, elicited more reactions than this lowly

ranking...should we get all hot and bothered about what is likely an

issue of translation or summon our national pride and repudiate this

"failed" states index?

Rgds

--

Francis Hook

+254 733 504561

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For
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