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

[Gilda Odera]

Listers,

My observations on similar researches has brought to light that one needs to 
take cognisance of who is funding the research.
I came to the conclusion a while back that some vested interests out there 
feel so threatened by Kenya and are at pains to paint such a bad picture of 
the country.
Ranking Kenya number 17 is simply ridiculous and totally misrepresenting-but 
ofcourse, that is the main objective.
We have heard of countries that want to discredit our beloved Kenya so that 
it discourages various organisations from setting shop or expanding their 
scope in Kenya, in the hope that they become beneficiaries.
Much as we have several issues to tackle, this rating is utterly ridiculous.
And if this is not the case, I suggest that the funders of this research 
should critically evaluate their research agency's weighting methods.
In the meantime, let us take what is necessary to act on from the report, 
trash the rest and continue developing our beloved country.
These researchers will catch up with us somewhere ahead- if at all!
And on that note, I urge all Kenyans to flag the flag high and say NO to 
impunity, corruption and all those vices!

Gilda



 Original Message ----- 
From: "Francis Hook" <francis.hook at gmail.com>
To: <godera at skyweb.co.ke>
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 10:47 AM
Subject: [kictanet] Failed States Index 2012 - Kenya #16, Somalia #1,Libya 
#50 (???),


> 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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