<div dir="ltr">The list makes no sense, really. I am in Egypt, which is currently a military dictatorship, and yet it is ranked higher than Kenya, which in my view is a somewhat functional democracy with authoriarian elements. Yet the list gives Egypt a better score than Kenya. It is ridiculous. <br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Kivuva <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Kivuva@transworldafrica.com" target="_blank">Kivuva@transworldafrica.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Syria, 7 places adrift! With 17,000+ casualties, 35,000 wounded, and 250,000 refugees, and still fighting in the uprising, how can they be better than Kenya?<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On 21 June 2012 13:16, Kivuva <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Kivuva@transworldafrica.com" target="_blank">Kivuva@transworldafrica.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Francis,<div><br></div><div>Thank you for bringing this up. I think the ratings are more to do with perception than reality. Most of the negative that make us rank so poorly is our own creation. What about thousands of NGOs taking pictures of slums, drought and starving children then run to western donors begging for cash to "HELP" the poor they "REPRESENT"! This has ruined the developing world's image beyond measure. Our own PRESS is also a major problem. I don't see western country publish widely sensationalizing their homeless, street gangs, mafia, and grand grand corruption, as we do ours. </div>
<div><br></div><div>In recent times, I have seen our leaders, including PS Ndemo insist on positive reporting from our media. That is the direction we should seek. If we instill cockiness in the direction of
<span style="line-height:19px;font-size:13px;font-family:sans-serif">narcissism, then the west will stop taking us for granted.</span></div><div><font face="sans-serif"><span style="line-height:18px"><br>
</span></font></div><div><font face="sans-serif"><span style="line-height:18px">Self Love<br></span></font><div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 21 June 2012 10:47, Francis Hook <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:francis.hook@gmail.com" target="_blank">francis.hook@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Apologies this is not mainstream ICT but at the periphery some ICT<br>
aspects need to be considered as well...(open access to information,<br>
ICT enabling democracy/choice/transparency, ICT in corruption, etc) .<br>
<br>
This index is by the US group Fund for Peace. I wonder what metrics<br>
they are using or how they are weighting the values of the 13 indices<br>
they use.<br>
<br>
Kenya is ranked 16th...that's just 15 steps away from Somalia (???),<br>
14 from DRC and shares the "teens" positions with Pakistan, Nigeria,<br>
Niger among others. The lower the score, the more "failed" a state<br>
is.<br>
<br>
Anyway....the links:<br>
<br>
1 - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Failed_States_Index" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Failed_States_Index</a><br>
(updated with 2012 Index)<br>
<br>
2 - <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failed_states_index_2012_interactive" target="_blank">http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failed_states_index_2012_interactive</a><br>
<br>
<br>
Personally I don't think Kenya should rate that poorly out of a 177 or<br>
so countries...I suspect some of the 13 indices are weighted more<br>
heavy than others (corruption, criminality, political situation etc) -<br>
and if such were removed from the index, just for the sake of seeing<br>
how it shifts the rankings, I'd like to think some EU countries would<br>
be in the top 50 at least....social unrest, steep economic decline,<br>
slum creation (US - housing/mortgage crisis has seen more people<br>
living in the streets in the last couple of years than in the last<br>
half a century), Wall Street demos, etc, ...."Suspension or arbitrary<br>
application of law" (Guantano Bay still open for business, The<br>
Patriots Act).<br>
<br>
And "Intervention of external political agents" - I think in Africa's<br>
case these "political agents" are usually from (or supported/fronted)<br>
by some developing countries that would want to nurture certain<br>
regimes in order to reap some economic gain...but that's an argument<br>
for another day.<br>
<br>
I'm also surprised the use of the adjective "primitive" by Korean<br>
Airlines, to describe Kenyans, elicited more reactions than this lowly<br>
ranking...should we get all hot and bothered about what is likely an<br>
issue of translation or summon our national pride and repudiate this<br>
"failed" states index?<br>
<br>
Rgds<br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
Francis Hook<br>
+254 733 504561<br>
<br>
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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.<br>
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