[kictanet] KIC (Amendement) Bill - Communications during emergency

Wed Jul 10 09:24:09 EAT 2013

To address the matter, one needs to first look at the
circumstances leading to a state of emergency. Section 58 of the Constitution gives
two conditions:
(a) the State is threatened by war, invasion, general
insurrection, disorder, natural disaster or other public emergency; and
(b) the declaration is necessary to meet the circumstances
for which the emergency is declared.
Of the conditions above, it is only natural disasters and civil  disorder  that the service providers  and the government have mitigating systems in place. Infrastructure
is duplicated (e.g fibre and satellite). Further, most countries have emergency
communication systems specifically to address disasters and disorders (see  this paper on UK
emergency communication);  and come the
worst, states use the Tampere Convention to allow faster importation of telecommunication equipment. 
War and invasion are probably more difficult to deal with. The state my wish to send warning messages to citizen but at the worst, the
enemy may use our national communication infrastructure (especially mobile
communications)  to communicate thus
avoiding detection by military intelligence.
On the lighter note, the concerns Edith has upon  seeing this statement in the law is easy to
understand, As early as 2004, a newly appointed government official got very
mad with government efforts to liberalize the communications sector. He asked “Tell me, If
we sell  Telkom to a foreign firm and the
government wants to do something – What will I use?” Somebody informed him that
if what the government wants to do is legitimate, then any service provider will certainly
provide the service. He went further and asked “At no fee? And suppose it is an
emergency and we have all these complex procurement regulations in place. The
Government should just wait?” Finally somebody produced the Communications
Act of 1998 and referred him to Section 88 and informed him that during a
state of emergency, the government  can take
temporary possession of any communication system as provided for in the
section.
This provision has always been in our laws and indeed exists in many other jurisdictions. 
Best Regards
James Kulubi

________________________________
 From: Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke>
To: jkulubi at yahoo.co.uk 
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
Sent: Wednesday, 10 July 2013, 4:32
Subject: Re: [kictanet] KIC (Amendement) Bill - Communications during emergency

Yes. I would agree. Society unfortunately has to have certain precautionary steps put in place to protect national Interest. One can only hope that it is not misused. 

Ali Hussein
CEO | 3mice interactive media Ltd
Principal | Telemedia Africa Ltd

+254 713 601113/ 0770 906375

"The future belongs to him who knows how to wait." - Russian Proverb
Sent from my iPad

On Jul 9, 2013, at 10:56 PM, Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com> wrote:

Well there was a feeling that based on 2007, it is a valid propasal.
>On Jul 9, 2013 10:53 PM, "Edith Adera" <eadera at idrc.ca> wrote:
>
>Listers,
>> 
>>I managed to catch the tail end of the stakeholder deliberations today, and wonder if I’m the only one uncomfortable with this section below in the Kenya Information and Communication Bill?
>> 
>>Am I unduly concerned or others feel the same? Worth debating?
>> 
>>Concerned Edith
>> 
>>===============
>>102B. (1) Upon the declaration of a state of emergency under Article 58 of the Constitution, the Authority may give a direction to any communications service provider that their entitlement to provide communication services has either been: 
>>(a) suspended, either generally or in relation to specific services, networks or facilities ; or 
>>(b) restricted or modified with respect to the provisions given in the direction. 
>> 
>>(2) The restriction or modification under subsection (1) (b) of this section may include— 
>>(a) provisions for the taking, removal, addition, construction, control or the usage for purposes of mitigating public emergencies or disasters of, all or any such communication system, equipment or services under this Act; and 
>>(b) provisions for the stopping, delaying and censoring of messages and broadcasts and the carrying out of any other purposes which the Authority thinks necessary to facilitate the direction given. 
>> 
>>(3) A direction under this section shall apply only for the duration of the state of emergency 
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