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

Thu Jun 21 18:03:06 EAT 2012

On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 11:52 PM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
> Now we are being punished for our hospitality? Surely...
>

Ali, yes, in a sense, see letter from the PS to New York Times written
almost 3 years ago:

<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E2DE1F39F933A05754C0A96F9C8B63>

Might be behind a registration firewall so txt below.

Adam

LETTER; Kenya's Balancing Act
Published: July 30, 2009

To the Editor:

''Radical Islamists Slipping Easily Into Kenya'' (front page, July 22)
vividly described some of the challenges the Kenyan government faces
from having the failed state of Somalia as a neighbor. But it
addressed only one aspect of this complex problem. It referred to the
threat from Islamic terrorism but only glossed over the enormous
humanitarian burden that Kenya carries, preventing it from closing its
border with Somalia.

For many years, Kenya has served as the beacon of hope for the
thousands of refugees fleeing from the misery and civil strife in
Somalia. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, Kenya is home to more than 260,000 Somali refugees. As the
conflict in Somalia persists, Kenya is obligated to provide refuge and
security, which means patrolling the border, but not closing it
completely.

Kenya is also one of the Western countries' closest allies in the
region. We are committed to working with American and British advisers
to maintain and build our counterterrorism efforts. For our
counterterrorism efforts, the Kenyan government has received harsh
criticism from human rights organizations.

It is a difficult balancing act. On the one hand, we are asked to
improve our security measures to protect the tens of thousands of
Westerners living in our country. On the other hand, we are asked to
provide a home to tens of thousands of refugees. High-level decisions
of this nature are not black and white.

Bitange Ndemo
Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Information and Communications
Nairobi, Kenya, July 24, 2009

> Having said that me thinks we shouldn't expend our energies on something so obviously biased. Thing is though is that we are caught between a rock and hard place as these rankings sometimes determine our financial rankings in matters of sovereign debt etc. unfortunately it's still true that who pays the piper calls the tune!
>
> Ali Hussein
>
> +254 773/713 601113
>
> Sent from my iPhone®
>
> On Jun 21, 2012, at 2:43 PM, Adam Peake <ajp at glocom.ac.jp> wrote:
>
>> Short explanation of Kenya's position according to Foreign Policy:
>> <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/18/postcards_from_hell_2012?page=0,16>
>>
>> A problem Kenya carries that many other countries do not are the
>> refugee camps along the northern borders, and then there's the
>> problems of unstable neighbours. But such a ranking, without
>> explanation is ridiculous.
>>
>> Adam
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 8:19 PM, Francis Hook <francis.hook at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Interestingly Ethiopia is ranked 16th (somehow its missing on the
>>> wikipedia link but is on the other link) - one better than Kenya.
>>>
>>> Recently they banned VoiP and attached a prison sentence to anyone
>>> caught using a VoIP app.   There IT indicators are among the lowest in
>>> Africa ergo access to information , implicit freedom to
>>> "associate/assemble" electronically, ICT for development,  share
>>> ideas, ability to politick online, etc are severely constrained - at
>>> least in so far as social and political environments go.   Anyone who
>>> has tried to open shop in Ethiopia will tell you its not plain
>>> sailing.  Dissent is not allowed. etc etc.
>>>
>>> And they are one better than Kenya?
>>>
>>>
>>> On 21 June 2012 14:03, Francis Hook <francis.hook at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Thanks Kivuva,
>>>> On that note about NGOs (and perception), its sad to note that these
>>>> have increasingly become a form of creating self-employment - both by
>>>> foreigners and Kenyans alike.   Pick a cause, shed light on how bad
>>>> things are (even if they are not really that bad) and start passing
>>>> around the cup.
>>>>
>>>> I recall there was a time the govt sought to regulate (audit?) NGOs
>>>> and their activities - (and avoid duplicated efforts, wastage of
>>>> resources, etc). I think at the time were some rumblings about why the
>>>> govt should do this - if I am not mistaken it was mainly because
>>>> certain NGOs "addressing" democracy, civic education, human rights,
>>>> etc were drawing fire (or the govt's wrath) for whatever reasons and I
>>>> think part of the political class that that time, who perhaps had
>>>> vested interests, supported such NGOs activities and the whole move
>>>> amounted to nought.
>>>>
>>>> I'd like to think that since 2003 the democracy has grown, healthcare
>>>> more widely available, women's/Children's/human rights are better,
>>>> malaria/AIDs on the decline, agricultural practices better, etc.   Of
>>>> course I do not have a yardstick but just by living in our society I
>>>> have seen changes. Most certainly things are better than 10 years ago.
>>>> Thus such NGOs should have whittled down to a handful and perceptions
>>>> of Kenya should be different already. Ironically this ranking must
>>>> mean the NGOs work has amounted to nothing :-)
>>>>
>>>> Having said that I admit there are indeed NGOs doing sterling jobs in
>>>> Kenya and we need to support them.  But for the most part, and I make
>>>> no apology about this, many of them are simply busy bodies that muddy
>>>> the waters, distort the facts (or focus on the negative ones), stir
>>>> controversy (in NGO-ese: "foster open dialogue") etc and strive to
>>>> remain relevant in order to secure funding.  In so doing they must
>>>> continue to paint a negative picture of 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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>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> ______________________
>>>>> Mwendwa Kivuva
>>>>> For
>>>>> Business Development
>>>>> Transworld Computer Channels
>>>>> Cel: 0722402248
>>>>> twitter.com/lordmwesh
>>>>> www.transworldAfrica.com  | Fluent in computing
>>>>> kenya.or.ke | The Kenya we know
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
>>>>> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
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>>>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Francis Hook
>>>> +254 733 504561
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Francis Hook
>>> +254 733 504561
>>>
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