[kictanet] The KeNIC we want

Thu Oct 4 15:16:07 EAT 2018

Mwendwa and listers

Let me tell you all the real elephant in the room at KeNIC

1. The charter that defines KeNIC was changed without any major participation with the public. We need to go back to history. This history of change started when someone at CA (then the CCK) maneuvered the Board (I’m ashamed to say that I was a board member then) and included a clause in the Kenya Information and Communications Act 2012 that there will be a licensing regime for the country code top-level domain (Read KeNIC). Before this KeNIC was a true Multi-Stakeholder Organization with total accountability to the different stakeholders. We simply didn’t have the capacity to lobby enough and even if we did some board members were complicit and steeped in deceit. 

https://www.unodc.org/res/cld/document/ken/1930/information-and-communications-act_html/Kenya_Information_and_Communications_Act_2_of_1998.pdf

How do we solve this opaqueness that now bedevils KeNIC? 

CA holds a mighty sword. They can hold the licensing on pain of reconstituting the structural pillars of KeNIC.

2. Corporate Governance. Let me start by saying upfront.  I’m not imputing any bad behavior on the part of the board. I’m simply saying that when there is darkness and opaqueness you must shine the light into it to remove any doubts. KeNIC belongs to Kenyans not some cherry picked organizations that purport to represent all of us. What I’m saying is not that the current organizations that are represented by the board are not legitimate. I’m saying they do not represent ALL Kenyans. If you read the Board Charter as it is you will also see glaring issues regarding the current stakeholders. The concept of equality has been thrown out of the window. Some stakeholders are more equal than others. 

3. Corporate Governance. Time limits must as a matter of principle be reconstituted in the Board Charter. It’s imperative. You can’t have Board Members behave like Life President Kamuzu Banda. 

4. Corporate Governance. The Board MUST be answerable to stakeholders at an AGM. It’s shocking that the last AGM was held I think in 2012. 

I can go on and on but if we deal with these fundamentals the rest will sort itself out.

Ali Hussein

+254 0713 601113 

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

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

Sent from my iPad

> On 4 Oct 2018, at 1:02 PM, Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> 
> Thanks Grace for setting the ball rolling. As much as every stakeholder is important, one key stakeholder is the .ke user (and domain registrants). On the several occasions we have had downtime at the registry, we have seen the outcry from the users. From internet banking websites that will not work, to news websites being inaccessible, to e-commerce platforms loosing sales revenue.
> 
> Maybe someone from KENIC board level, or comms at KENIC can respond on the issues Grace has raised which are
> 1. How board is constituted.
> 2. If minutes of board meetings should always be made public. 
> 3. If KENIC is really a PPPodel, and how the different stakeholders are brought to the table.
> 4. Issue of staff attrition, and why there is constantly turnover of strategic, and technical staff.
> 
> From where I sit, I don't see any problem in having public board meetings. KENIC is a monopoly in the .ke space, and there is no problem in having deliberations of the board made public.
> 
> I would also add from my previous questions
> e) How accountable is the KENIC board, and to whom does it account to?
> 
> Maybe I can call out some Lister's who have had strong views on the strategic direction of KENIC to also give their voice, that is Ali Hussein, and even Kariba Moko who have been on the KENIC board. 
> 
> I am also attaching the KENIC board charter that was shared on the list last week
> 
>> On Thu, Oct 4, 2018, 2:37 PM Grace Bomu <nmutungu at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Kivuva, 
>> You explained that KENIC is run on a PPP model but from the website, it is run more like a private entity. 
>> Perhaps there are good reasons why for example CEOs are kicked out every so often but without transparency, we can only speculate. 
>> A starting point would be to publish minutes of board meetings plus other important corporate reports so that the public can be informed. 
>> And on the issue of board composition, we would have a more meaningful discussion if we knew how board seats are arrived at. Is it a space for registrars only or should we imagine it as a public resource where there should be representation of public interest as well as users? 
>> Regards, 
>> 
>>> Il giorno gio 4 ott 2018 alle ore 08:18 Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> ha scritto:
>>> The debate on revitalising KENIC will seek to tackle the following :
>>> 
>>> 1. Governance Issues
>>> 2. Public /Stakeholder Engagements
>>> 3. Operational Issues
>>> 
>>> Today Day1, we will seek to address the Governance issues.
>>> 
>>> There is no restriction to debate the other two issues, or any other issue you feel is important, although we will strive to answer the other two issues tomorrow. 
>>> 
>>> How is the board currently constituted?
>>> KENIC was licensed by CA in 2015 to manage the .ke namespace following gazzettement of new Information and Communication Regulations. Currently. The KENIC board comprises members from Kenya Education Network (KENET), Domain Registrars Association of Kenya (DRAKE), ICT Authority (ICTA), and Technology Service Providers of Kenya (TESPOK).  There are associate directors comprising the immediate past Chairman of the board, and some three other organisations (Google, KO Associates, and ICEA Lion). More clarification on the current board is needed since their website is blank on this. The KENIC page on the board was last updated in 2014 http://kenic.or.ke/index.php/en/home/kenic-board-management
>>> 
>>> Questions that come to mind at this point are
>>> a) Is a review of the governance structure at KENIC due? How would that structure look like?
>>> b) Which Organisations should nominate Directors? Which stakeholder groups should be involved?
>>> c) What are the term limits for Directors?
>>> d) How should the Chairperson of the board be selected? 
>>> 
>>> Additional questions are welcomed, as we get suggestions from the wider community on the best way to manage our .ke registry.
>>> 
>>> Take it away.
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>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Grace Mutung'u 
>> Skype: gracebomu
>> @Bomu
>> PGP ID : 0x33A3450F
>> 
> <1538647146626_KENIC_Board_Charter.pdf>
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> 
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