[kictanet] Dr Ndemo Farewell

Mon Apr 29 16:18:14 EAT 2013

Dear Daktari,
I want to echo what Walu has said about you regarding openness and
accessibility. You have been very open to listen and engage with everyone
in the sector. We knocked on your door many times to engage with you
regarding the issues that mattered to us in our respective points of view,
and you were always ready to listen and share your thoughts. What really
impressed me was the fact that you were even more ready to engage the
industry than your juniors. You rarely missed an IT event that you were
invited to (I guess unless it was a Saturday, and now I see why). You never
forgot to reply to an email and to follow through. Most of your peers in
the public service at your level and even lower find it difficult or
demeaning to have this level of engagement. Kudos for that.

You have done many good things for the industry and for the country. These
will become clear many years from now. I wish you had embraced open source
software more in your strategies. But again, there are always competing
interests and history will be the judge. One thing that I have learnt
myself is that it's never an easy thing to be a visionary. That's why many
of the initiatives that you created were seen in some quarters as castles
in the air. I will forever remember an official in your Ministry who
accused those of us advocating for the Government to embrace open source
software as dreamers who thought they could change the world. We still
believe that Kenya will not become a top IT destination by implementing
software and technology made by others, but by becoming a creator of
software for use locally and for export. This is an economic fact that will
not change any time soon.

All in all, thank you very much for your service to our industry and we
wish you well wherever you go.

Ikua

On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 3:05 PM, Warigia Bowman <warigia at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dr. Ndemo
>
> We will miss you. You are one of the best permanent secretaries in Kenya.
> If every PS in Kenya performed at your level, the country would be in
> excellent condition.
>
> Sincerely, Warigia
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 6:32 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> @ Ndemo,
>>
>> You will go down as one of the few PS who opened up Government at at time
>> when Government Ministers and Permanent Secretaries had no time to
>> entertain  non-government actors (like most listers here :-).  I doubt any
>> big shot in Govt would have been humble enough to take in their stride both
>> the criticism and compliments from the grassroots as you have done.
>>
>> Eng. Rege before you started this type of culture and I am glad you took
>> it to the next level.  I can only hope that the new Minister/Cabinet Sec
>> and Principal Secretaries will follow suit as we endevour to make Kenya the
>> best ICT destination in Africa.
>>
>> regards.
>>
>> walu.
>> nb: took the liberty to tweak the subject line :-)
>>   ------------------------------
>>  *From:* Bitange Ndemo <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
>> *To:* jwalu at yahoo.com
>> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> *Sent:* Monday, April 29, 2013 1:30 PM
>> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Reviewing Kenya ICT Board Performance- You can
>> write a guest post
>>
>> Listers,
>> It is an open secret that my departure from the Ministry of Information
>> and Communications is imminent.  As seconds, minutes and days tick by; I
>> take this opportunity to bid you all farewell.
>>
>> During the last seven years that I have worked here, I have learned a lot
>> from you all. I could not have benefited from the learning experience
>> without your constant support, criticism and encouragement.  If I have to
>> do it all over again, I would not change anything to perform my duties
>> well. In my position as Permanent Secretary, I have gained considerable
>> knowledge and thus I shall always cherish this, as one of the most
>> satisfying phases in my career.
>>
>> Further, I have shared a special bond with all of you both virtually and
>> in reality.  I shall take away with me special memories of our time
>> together. I remain committed to ideals of Kictanet and would remain active
>> in its deliberations.  I must admit that I may have underestimated the
>> amount of pressure there is to aspire for a job.  There are politicians
>> from my county trying to create a wedge between myself, Dr. Matian’gi and
>> Hon. Nyachae.  Others from other parts of the country can be summed as
>> extortionists and possible toll collectors at every level.  I shall
>> however, take the interview on Thursday and if fate has it that I shall
>> once more serve my country then I shall proudly do so.
>>
>> It is now my singular honour to introduce Dr. Fred Matian’gi, our Cabinet
>> Secretary nominee whom I have had the privilege of knowing for the past
>> many years.  While I was in Standard 7, Dr. Matian’gi had just started
>> standard 1 at Manga Primary School.  His sister Margaret was my classmate.
>> I have known him as an honest person and devout Seventh Day Adventist.
>> He has an impeccable record of integrity having served in several
>> governance programs.
>>
>> Dr. Matian’gi is a fast learner and has extensively published.  We taught
>> at University of Nairobi together and his record as a lecturer was
>> faultless.  We simply have a great mind to steer our sector. I want to
>> take the earliest opportunity to wish him the best. Although Dr. Matian’gi
>> is a good friend, it will not be practical for us to work together.  The
>> constitution demands diversity.  We shall create fodder for politicians to
>> drive further wedge between us.  I have chosen friendship and will look
>> for alternative areas to serve my country.
>>
>> Let me therefore wish each one of you the very best in all of our future
>> endeavors.
>>
>> Bitange Ndemo.
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> kictanet mailing list
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>>
>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.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
>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>>
>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/warigia%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.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Dr. Warigia Bowman
> Assistant Professor
> Clinton School of Public Service
> University of Arkansas
> wbowman at clintonschool.uasys.edu
> -------------------------------------------------
> View my research on my SSRN Author page:
> http://ssrn.com/author=1479660
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ikua.evans%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.
>

-- 
*----------------------------------------------------
Kind Regards,
Evans Ikua,*
lanetconsulting.com,
lpi-eastafrica.org,
ict-innovation.fossfa.net,
Skype: @ikuae
Cell: +254-722-955831
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20130429/218dde61/attachment.htm>