[kictanet] A good piece by Dr. Bitange Ndemo

[Bitange Ndemo]

Ngigi Waithaka,
I was in government for 7 years.  I sought to focus on:
1.) Infrastructure
2.) Content, Application and Innovation
3.) Capacity Building
4.) Public Private Partnership
5.) Employment creation.

No. 1 and 4 worked very well since we were able to see at least 95 percent
of the infrastructure done.

No. 2 and 3 are an ongoing process and requires government support. 
Treasury and Parliament are key.  We made some key proposals through
public participation but we were not successful in convincing either
Treasury or Parliament to provide sufficient support.

No. 5 is a product of all of the above.  The entrepreneur creates jobs as
well as the government through spending.  In our thinking we wanted the
government to invest in productivity enabling projects but we were not
obviously on the same wavelength with parliament.

We actually got the ICT policies in place and even revised them.  We asked
for at least 30 percent in local software but as usual compliance was not
there.  We actually fought for removal of tax from hardware and we were
equally surprised with the removal of tax on imported software.

You are most likely thinking that every civil servant has the power to
change fiscal policy.  This is far from the truth.  Blame me for the ICT
policies.

Lastly, I have been the same person all through.  Critical on what I see
is not good for the country.  At some point in this fora we had a mock
presidential debate on my views which are still the same.  You can
actually verify this.

I will be delighted to respond to any of your concerns during my tenure. 
To be a civil servant is perhaps the most difficult thing in any one's
life.  My prayer is that one day you get the chance to serve your country
in the civil service.


Ndemo.





> If I ever have a chance to sit down with Dr Ndemo I will ask just *one*
> question:
>
> You were in Government as the PS ICT for 10 years, with a golden chance to
> formulate the policies that you are now saying we need. Yet, you wasted
> that chance and if anything, oversaw the domination of the Kenya ICT scene
> by foreign firms, implementing products & services that could have been
> done here and also oversaw the abolishing of the import tax on software,
> that is needed to shield the nascent software industry and hence exporting
> even more Kenyan jobs to those countries like India, who probably need
> them
> more than we do!
>
> So, what has changed now? Is this a case of Saul converting on his way to
> Damascus?
>
> Would that be *one* question?
>
> Waithaka Ngigi
> A1.iO
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM, Dorcas Muthoni <dmuthoni at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> A good piece by Dr. Bitange Ndemo
>>
>>
>> *We must be more pragmatic to resolve Kenya's high unemployment *
>>
>> http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/-/1959700/2077756/-/oodsogz/-/index.html
>>
>> --
>> Muthoni
>>
>> My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/
>> --------------------------------------------
>> Mahatma Gandhi once said:-
>>
>> First they ignore you,
>> Then they laugh at you,
>> Then they fight you,
>> AND THEN YOU WIN!!!
>>
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>> 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.
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> *Regards,*
>
> *Wait**haka Ngigi*
> Chief Executive Officer | Alliance Technologies | MCK Nairobi Synod
> Building
> T + 254 (0) 20 2333 471 |Office Mobile: +254 786 28 28 28 | M + 254 737
> 811
> 000
> www.at.co.ke
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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.


University of Nairobi
Business School, Lower Kabete Campus