[kictanet] [mediaeditors] Why Barr the Media from PS Interviews?

Tue Apr 30 20:10:53 EAT 2013

Steve Mutoro,
Over various instances, your advocacy efforts have been very admirable
especially when focus has been directed on the crux and substance of
consumer nuisances. Unfortunately the tone in your latest post in this
thread triggers more questions than answers with regard to your motivation
and objectivity as a self proclaimed fighter of the ever aggrieved
"consumer".

The verbosity not withstanding, one theme stands out in your long winded
post: Your unreserved grudge and antipathy towards *"your friend, who as
usual, loves and exploits on any moment of PR possibly better than any
public servant in your lifetime". *Your "friend" may have done "nothing"
but the fact that several listers recognize the nothing as impressive
should not provoke such vitriol as emitted in your write up. You can still
dwell on the failures and omissions without degenerating your views to
something that borders on an online scuffle. If there are outstanding
issues in your "friendship" then it is inadvisable to seek to resolve them
by dragging innocent listers into the same.

Further, the post advocates for an ultra ideal and more than perfect
society where everything ought to be broadcasted, failure to which "rotten
apples" will germinate. I wish the same standards would be adopted by our
beloved COFEK by simply providing us with a link or even static images of
the interview, election or any other transparent process through which the
Secretary General took office. .....for it is written that thou shall not
throw stones if you live in fiber houses else there will fiber cuts.

Some wonders only happen in Kenya. Where else apart from Kenya can a self
professed consumer lobby that purports to fight for the downtrodden charge
an individual membership registration fee of Ksh 15,000 without
blinking?*Isn't this rip off is more excruciating than the bandwidth
pricing
phenomena? *What sounds less painful among these two options 1. To register
as a member so that COFEK fights for your low priced bandwidth or 2. To buy
expensive megabytes?

Kamotho Njenga

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 2:20 PM, stephen Mutoro <smutoro at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi David:
>
> Thanks for all the ideas. It is difficult for me to attempt to challenge
> you within your circle of competence. I won't. This should not be
> misconstrued so. Consider yourself as the proverbial "Goliath" and I, as
> "David" on this. You seem to be suggesting the end will justify the means.
> I am of the view that the means (process) will justify the end. What if H.E
> ends up receiving 66 names of "rotten apples"? By putting them on "live
> broadcast" and disguising them otherwise, at the very last stage, from what
> they are - would it make them any different? I doubt. Contrast the process
> of the PS'es appointment with CJ (and I am not saying it was necessarily
> the very best. Look at the one that realized David Kimaiyo as IGP and the
> list is endless).
>
> Live broadcast is actually a non-issue here - just allow public or media
> who choose to sit in, whenever certain candidates are being interviewed, to
> do so. There are muted men and women who have literally chewed and stashed
> away over 50% over their budgetary allocation either as Ministries,
> parastatals or as agencies. But now they have all documents of clearance
> (including if there would have been one from GoK to take them to heaven!)
> But if they are challenged on live media, eye contact and generally their
> body language would betray them.
>
> Then there is this little matter of my friend, who as usual, loves and
> exploits on any moment of PR possibly better than any public servant in my
> lifetime. There is outpouring of emotions and he loves it. He can actually
> print all that and take them somewhere on Thursday - to show how "loved" he
> may have been. The subject matter should have been perhaps "introducing the
> new CS". And talk of introducing him, was it premature? Talk of "farewell"
> - was it not ironical to bid others "farewell" when you say you will remain
> and contribute on the list? Is he saying that if HE appointed him to the
> same office, he will decline on account of the "diversity" excuse he gives?
> His version of political wedge between him and CS rings hollow and reads
> like a Prof Makau Mutua commentary on a matter he has neither expertise nor
> experience. Instead he appears to demean his own CS. Which begs more
> questions - was he introducing him at a personal or policy level (or as a
> public servant)? Where does Standard 7 or 1 at Manga or sister come in -
> unless he just wanted to say he is older and perhaps more knowledgeable?
> Let me not drift away.
>
> There is no denying my friend made some "huge" progress on the ICT sector.
> The problem is tracking or tracing the same as it remains unseen, mostly
> unrecorded and perhaps only exists in the mindsets of listers. This is
> purely from a consumer perspective. Examples are many, for instance, when
> fibre optic landed - my friend promised heaven on speeds and pricing. It
> was reported *in the Daily Nation* of 30 September 2009 thus "The Kenyan
> Government has accused the East Africa Marine system (TEAMs) shareholders
> of colluding to fix internet connectivity prices.*
>  Information and Communication PS Bitange Ndemo said the shareholders are
> making a massive 2,000 per cent from selling their capacity before the
> cable officially goes live. The shareholders have said that they will first
> have to recoup their investment before lowering the internet connectivity
> prices.He said the shareholders should be selling internet connection at
> about $200 (Sh14,800) per Megabyte (MB) but the companies have held the
> price at about $4,000 (Sh296,000) – the price of satellite. “When we were
> initially setting up TEAMs the issue of recouping investments after it had
> gone live did not feature,” Dr Ndemo said. That was 2009, it is 2013, consumers
> are paying more for poorer speeds, missing redundancies - and he is silent
> as the likes of Zuku and others mess up the consumer.
> *
> What is my point - let's give credit where it is due. But unlike a dead
> person we are used to praise in eulogies - lets also say the other side of
> un-concluded or half-done business on ICT and not the person. Let's avoid
> this "herd instinct" or social proof theory where individuals feel they
> are behaving correctly when they act the same as other people. We could
> also look at the "contrast effect". That is why if you are seeking a
> partner, never go out in the company of your supermodel friends. People
> will find you less attractive than you really are. Go alone or better yet,
> take two ugly friends - that is the mischief of not comparing my friend
> with the best. Unless we have fallen prey to the "availability bias" which
> my friend can fend off by spending his time with the likes of yours truly -
> people whose experience and expertise are different from his. Otherwise, it
> is like Frank Sintra's song - "Oh, my heart is beating wildly/And it all
> because you're here/When I'm not near the girl I love/I love the girl I'm
> near". May be, just may be, we all need to read Ayi Kwei Armah's "The
> Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born". The book is a railway freight clerk in
> Ghana who attempts to hold out against the pressures that impel him toward
> corruption in both his family and his country. Yes, on Kenya's ICT
> administration, and before we empty all our (un)deserving praises on my
> friend, the beautiful ones are not yet born!
>
> Regards,
>
> Stephen Mutoro
> www.cofek.co.ke
>
>   ------------------------------
>  *From:* "dmakali at yahoo.com" <dmakali at yahoo.com>
> *To:* smutoro at yahoo.com
> *Cc:* KICTAnet - Media Editors Forum <mediaeditors at lists.kictanet.or.ke>;
> KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 30, 2013 1:03 PM
>
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] [mediaeditors] Why Barr the Media from PS
> Interviews?
>
> Edith:
> Media ought to and should cover those interviews and repory as robustly as
> possible on the proceedings but am abit hesitant about live coverage
> because of the number of applicants. Later interviewees are likely to be
> helped by screenings of the early candidates.  For that reason, and to
> expose all applicants to the same heat, I would waive my desire to
> "participate" via live transmiSsion.
>
> My position would change if it took a shorter time (say 2 days) and the
> applicants were only 5 to ten, and none would take the advantage of
> preparing further after watching others being interviewed.
>
> But, unfortunately, there will be no shortlist for final vetting. Only the
> nominee picked by the president from among the 3 recommended per ministry
> will be vetted by the appointments committee. And that's where the live
> broadcast may come in because the public will still have a chance to submit
> on their suitability or otherwise.
>
> David
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry®
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.ca>
> Sender: "mediaeditors"
> <mediaeditors-bounces+dmakali=yahoo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:48:08
> To: <dmakali at yahoo.com>
> Cc: mediaeditors \(mediaeditors-bounces+dmakali=
> yahoo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke\)<mediaeditors-bounces+dmakali=
> yahoo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke>; KICTAnet - Media Editors Forum<
> mediaeditors at lists.kictanet.or.ke>; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Subject: Re: [mediaeditors] [kictanet] Why Barr the Media from PS
> Interviews?
>
> The assumption is that the shortlist will have the best? How will you know?
>
> I still think both can be done, public can be present plus media could
> cover it sequentially as you coordinated yourselves for the Presidential
> debate.
>
> Edith
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=
> idrc.ca at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Eng. Wainaina Mungai
> Sent: April 30, 2013 10:41 AM
> To: Edith Adera
> Cc: mediaeditors (mediaeditors-bounces+dmakali=
> yahoo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke); KICTAnet - Media Editors Forum; KICTAnet
> ICT Policy Discussions
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] [mediaeditors] Why Barr the Media from PS
> Interviews?
>
> Makali has put forward my prefered approach. His approach allows for real
> 'public participation' by allowing representation of views by the public.
>
> For private media, it's impractical to have 155 persons on live TV
> continuously for 10 or so days. May the coverage be on the final shortlist,
> instead.
>
> I doubt there's need to attack the character of the Chair of PSC.
> Instead, submit representations to PSC about the candidates by Thursday,
> demand public rep. is allowed to be present at interviews and limit live
> broadcast to fewer candidates.
>
> On 4/30/13, dmakali at yahoo.com <dmakali at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Mayb we need to interrogate the meaning of "public participation"
> > threshold of the constitution.  Does watching or holding a recruitment
> > process in the open space - on tv or a physical venue like kicc -
> > constitute public participation or is it that every citizen is free
> > and has an opportunity to be considered and to raise any matter
> > pertinent to the recruitment and potential recruits that counts?
> >
> > Methinks the latter, which has been complied with by psc advertising
> > and inviting any1 interested to apply. That also meets the "competitive"
> > criterion.
> >
> > The next demand we should put on them is to facilitate or make it
> > possible for any1 who wants to sit in the room to observe the process
> > or to submit any information that may assist it to recruit the right
> candidates do so.
> > That complies with the transparency requirement.
> >
> > The interviews can otherwise become a farce at this stage if the
> > template is applied across the 155 applicants.  The live broadcast can
> > come at the final stahe wen the shortlisted go before Parliament where
> > scrutiny should be even more thorough and of a different kind -
> political and ideological.
> >
> > David
> >
> >
> > Sent from my BlackBerry(r)
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.ca>
> > Sender: "kictanet"
> > <kictanet-bounces+dmakali=yahoo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> > Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 05:25:20
> > To: <dmakali at yahoo.com>
> > Cc: mediaeditors
> > \(mediaeditors-bounces+dmakali=yahoo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke\)<mediae
> > ditors-bounces+dmakali=yahoo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke>;
> > KICTAnet - Media Editors Forum<mediaeditors at lists.kictanet.or.ke>;
> > KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Why Barr the Media from PS Interviews?
> >
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> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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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
> 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.
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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
> 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,
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