[kictanet] Kenya ICT Practitioners Bill - Walu's Views

Sidney Ochieng sidney.ochieng at gmail.com
Wed Jul 6 23:33:35 EAT 2016


I'm now putting the blame for this bill squarely on you Walu. Your article
seems to be describing exactly the bill's contents, they just switched out
professionals for practitioners😊.
Now let me go into why you're wrong:
*So far, there has been no Act of Parliament that would empower a
particular organisation to regulate ICT professionals in Kenya and speak on
their behalf. As the country adopts more and more technology, the absence
of a statutory body mandated to provide leadership in the ICT space will
become more pronounced.*
I have to ask why we need one body to speak for ICT professionals? We've
had instances in which the professional bodies have been wrong, or have
pushed agendas that put short term profit ahead of public good.
Do you know why bodies for lawyers, doctors and accountants exist? Because
these are professions that have existed for ever, figuratively. They have
well established norms and methods. They're also extremely slow to
innovate. ICT, in all it's forms has barely been around for 60 years and is
still evolving. Give ICT another century to settle.


*Already, many examples that would have benefited from an objective,
non-political analysis from ICT professionals have come and gone. The
Laptop procurement saga, the spectacular failure of the IEBC electronic
systems, and practically all the Anglo “fleecing” ICT-related projects
quickly come to mind.*
*Would these projects have turned out differently if the individual ICT
professionals involved knew that a statutory ICT professional body could
revoke their licence to practice if at all they were found culpable of
professional misconduct?*
No these projects would not have turned out differently, malpractice exists
doesn't matter if you have a certificate or not. Infact having a
certificate may lead people not to scrutinise the work of these
professional carefully and sanction mediocrity.

The one reason you seem to have for such a body in law is so that the
interests of ICT professionals can be represented however we have the Kenya
ICT Action Network (KICTANet) described as a multi-stakeholder platform for
people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
regulation, and it seems to be doing a decent job without legislation to
"legitimise" it.

On 6 July 2016 at 15:26, Walubengo J via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> @Alex, @Muthuri,
>
> Thnx for 'bursting' me @
>
>
> http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/-/2274560/2305252/-/1208fkiz/-/index.html
>
>
> It does seem the Internet does not forget :-)
>
> Anyway, I still stand by those earlier views.  That the ICT professionals
> should be better organized and speak with one strong voice in order to
> guide the nation in prosperous and in difficult moments.  And that an Act
> of Parliament would go  a long way in ensuring that such a voice is
> grounded in legislation and therefore cannot be wished away by current or
> future governments.
>
> However, what I do not agree with is the way such an important bill may
> have gone 'below the radar' - all the way to the 1st reading. Without most
> people being aware of it, let alone having a chance to contribute and shape
> it.
>
> In short, I have always appreciated the problem, but I do not necessarily
> agree with solutions (contents of the proposed bill), least of all the
> 'modus-operandi' methods applied to push it through.
>
> So there you have it :-)
>
> walu.
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Dennis Muthuri via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *To:* jwalu at yahoo.com
> *Cc:* Dennis Muthuri <muthuridennis at gmail.com>; Alex Watila <
> awatila at yahoo.co.uk>; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 6, 2016 2:37 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Draft National ICTPolicy:-End of Online
> Discussions
>
> Thanks Alex,
>
> I’d like to hear bwana Walu’s views. This is dialogue after all and not a
> witch hunt. All of us want the best way forward for all stakeholders at the
> end of the day.
>
> Regards
>
> On 6 Jul 2016, at 2:17 PM, Harry <harry26001 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey Alex,
>
> Bwana Walu seems to have ducked  "under" on this one, though my sentiment
> would be that, his oped at the time seemed to lean more on how to give the
> ICT fraternity a voice through representation at the national stage than
> what we seeing now with the proposed bill that seems to weigh in more on
> regulatory policing. Given the multifaceted nature of the ICT space, the
> worst the proponents can do is to sneak in such proposed regulatory
> frameworks without as much as subjecting the same to wide multistakeholder
> input. This could be counter productive, and in fact threatens to stifle
> the very space that opened up, got liberalized and has thrived for almost
> 14years and which, has been a catalyst and testament to some of the amazing
> innovative achievements and growth to date in this sector.
>
> So again, just like the wifi surveillance bill who initiated this..? Where
> was the consultative engagement..?
>
> Harry
>
> On Jul 6, 2016 11:47 AM, Alex Watila <awatila at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
> Walu,
> Do you need to defend yourself?
>
>
> http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/-/2274560/2305252/-/1208fkiz/-/index.html
>
> Regards,
>
> Alex
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alex Watila [mailto:awatila at yahoo.co.uk <awatila at yahoo.co.uk>]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 6, 2016 11:31 AM
> To: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions' <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Cc: 'Harry' <harry26001 at gmail.com>; 'Dennis Muthuri' <
> muthuridennis at gmail.com>
> Subject: RE: [kictanet] Draft National ICTPolicy:-End of Online
> Discussions
>
> Dear All,
> I think the two issues are related since "to enforce government policies,
> governments make laws and then enforce the laws."
>
> It would be strange to be discussing a policy while another one seems to
> be in the process of being given legal authority.
>
> Regards,
>
> Alex
> https://twitter.com/hashtag/KillTheICTBill?src=hash
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kictanet [
> mailto:kictanet-bounces+awatila=yahoo.co.uk at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> <kictanet-bounces+awatila=yahoo.co.uk at lists.kictanet.or.ke>] On Behalf Of
> Harry via kictanet
> Sent: Wednesday, July 6, 2016 11:14 AM
> To: awatila at yahoo.co.uk
> Cc: Harry <harry26001 at gmail.com>; Dennis Muthuri <muthuridennis at gmail.com>
>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Draft National ICTPolicy:-End of Online
> Discussions
>
> Hey Dennis,
>
> Welcome on board..!
>
> The Draft National ICT policy, (a review of the last one formulated in
> 2006) has been under discussion for the past abt 10 days on the forum. You
> can familiarize yourself with the just ended great debate at
> www.kitanet.or.ke, under the corresponding link headings.
>
> Walu, just wondering whether this can be extended to allow Listers
> ventilate on the  ICT practitioners bill currently trending exhaustively
> probably as an issue to be incorporated in the draft policy discussion, as
> opposed to treating it as a separate issue. As many as are of a similar
> opinion, say 'aye'..
>
> Harry
>
> On Jul 6, 2016 10:36 AM, Dennis Muthuri via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Hary,
>
> Kindly bring me up to speed with the draft that you are talking about, I
> joined this mailing list a day ago so I don’t have much context into the
> matter.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> On 6 Jul 2016, at 10:33 AM, kictanet-request at lists.kictanet.or.ke wrote:
>
> Re: [kictanet] Draft National ICTPolicy:-End of Online Discussions
>
>
>
> Dennis Muthuri Mburugu
> Skype: dennis.muthuri | Tel: +(254)714590654
>
>
>
>
>
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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
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>
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>
>
> Dennis Muthuri Mburugu
> Skype: dennis.muthuri | Tel: +(254)714590654
>
>
>
>
>
>
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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,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>



-- 
Regards,
Sidney

*Twitter:* @princelySid <https://twitter.com/princelySid> | *Website: *
sidneyochieng.co.ke
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