[kictanet] UPDATE ON KICTANET ENGAGEMENT WITH VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS ON THE ICT PRACTITIONERS BILL

[Ali Hussein]

Dear all

​Further to our formal update on this matter on 17th August 2016. 

As we had earlier informed you, KICTANet is working in a consortium comprising of ourselves, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the Technology Service Providers of Kenya (TESPOK),  Kenya Information Technology and Outsourcing Services (KITOS), Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) and the iHub.  ​

The consortium after presenting a memorandum opposing the Bill was told that this was not among the options available to the National Assembly Energy and ICT Committee as the role of the committee was to consider the Bill and report back to the House. The Committee advised that we single out clauses that we would like amended and propose amendments. 

In considering amendments, the consortium was guided by the following: 

a) ICTs are novel and cross-cutting and therefore, many people in various professions may be defined as ICT practitioners if the term was to be broadly interpreted. The law should not target people whose primary occupation is not ICT or people who use ICT as an enabler to their primary occupation. 
b) There are many especially young people using ICTs to develop solutions to everyday challenges through experimental approaches. The law should not be crafted as a hindrance to innovation. 
c) After listening to the concerns of the sponsor of the Bill, where he cited quacks as a problem in the ICT sector, the consortium proposed that there could be a database of ICT practitioners but without accompanying encumbrances such as annual licensing, tests and mandatory training. 
d) Other issues were the need for a governing organ that was representative of the sector and the overarching principle that government/governance should be more of facilitative than a hindrance to people's freedom to achieve their destiny. 

We would just like to assure the network that we participated in proposing amendments as this was the only avenue provided by the Committee to receive our memorandum. We have always reiterated our position that we are opposed to this Bill in toto. 

We are awaiting the report of the Committee which will then be tabled in Parliament for subsequent parliamentary procedures. We are cognisant of the fact that the Bill is sponsored by the Member for Garissa Town who is also the Leader of Majority in the National Assembly. We had written to him expressing our opposition to the Bill and praying that Parliament help this sector by prioritising other crucial Bills such as the Data Protection Act. 

We call upon members of this network to join us in sensitizing Members of Parliament on our rationale for opposing this law. It is only through concerted efforts that we can kill this Bill. 

#KillTheICTBill

Ali Hussein
Principal
Hussein & Associates
+254 0713 601113 

Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim


"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi

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