[WSIS CS-Plenary] [WSIS THETHA] [kenyawsis] Government offices to acquire internet access

Tue Mar 2 09:10:11 GMT 2004

English below

Juste une remarque sur cet ambitieux projet du gouvernement kenyan :
Le Land de Bade-Wurtemberg, qui est le deuxième des 21 Lands en terme de
richesse dans la riche Allemagne, a tenté de promouvoir le vote électronique
dans ses communes. Un certain nombre de villes moyennes se sont opposées car
les coûts d'installation des cabines et des systèmes sont trop élevés pour
leur budget.

.... et une question :
Quel est la part des 2,5 milliards de shillings qui va à Microsoft, et aux
fournisseurs étrangers d'équipement ?

Jean-Louis Fullsack
CSDPTT

Just a remark  about this ambitious project of Kenya's gouvernment :
The Land Baden-Wurtemberg, which is the second richest Land in the rich
Germany tried to promote e-voting in its towns and districts. A certain
number of mid-sized towns opposed the project because the costs for
installing cabins and systems were too high for their budget.

... and a question :
Which part of the 2,5 billion shilling amoint will be given to Microsoft,
and other foreign equipment providers ?

Jean-Louis Fullsack
CSDPTT-France
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sangonet" <thetha at sangonet.org.za>
To: "wsis" <wsis at lists.sn.apc.org>
Sent: Monday, March 01, 2004 2:52 PM
Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] [WSIS THETHA] [kenyawsis] Government offices to
acquire internet access

> Hello all,
>
> hope you all read this story - quite an ambitious project by the
government.
>
>
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/28022004/News/News2802200426.htm
> l
>
> a few things come to my mind.
>
> 1. About the upcoming civil society involvement at the ICT board and
> upcoming participation the National Strategy ICT workshop. While It is a
> good strategy to speak as an insider, I fully support comments from others
> of the need to be cautious and ensure that civil society maintain the
> reputation of being the voice for the voiceless and also for the call for
a
> strategy meeting to thrash out the  objectives of Kenya civil society and
> specific issues relating to Kenya's ICT policy.
>
> This also reminds me that the Kenya civil society caucus on WSIS also
needs
> to reach out to other civil society actors who are involved in related
> policy matters and speaking to various government structures such as
during
> the Kenya consultative group meeting in November last year -
> http://www.worldbank.org/ke/cg03.htm. The civil society present at the
> meeting (ActionAid Kenya, Institute of Economic Affairs, and the NGO
> Council) did present a paper about various policy issues from a civil
> society perspective in Kenya.
>
> Looking at the papers presented at this consultative group meeting, there
> are already conflicting areas between KEPSA's paper and the civil society
> paper. The KESPA paper covers some major issues that need to be addressed
in
> infrastructure development (including the ICT sector) by advocating for a
> greater framework for private sector participation, while the civil
society
> paper calls for government to ensure provision of basic services as the
> rights of citizens. This raises a serious question about how the Kenya
civil
> society caucus would work within KESPA and how it relates to the wider
Kenya
> civil society organizations?
>
> To these effect I would urge the meeting agenda to discuss ways of working
> closely with other civil society actors to ensure that civil society
> participation in policy engagement is strengthened and well coordinated.
For
> example would this have been effective collaboration, the civil society
> paper presented at the consultative group meeting would have been stronger
> and covered more on ICT policy issues.
>
> 2. The second issue relates to the specific story below.....two things
>
> One it seems the government is not presenting a clear position on a
> centralised ICT strategy, here we see Minister Murungaru spearheading this
> e-government strategy without a clear position on the role of Information
> minister and the transport and communications minister. It is a high time
we
> start seeing an integrated ICT approach!
>
> 3. Open Source and Free Software Issues..
>
> This might related more directly to my colleague - Mr. Bill Kagai. While
> this ambitious e-government strategy gets in place, your call for
'Building
> Govt. Contacts Database' is more urgent than ever to target these policy
> makers so that come 2007 we will not have expensive proprietary software
> further deteriorating the current state foreign debt more so at the
expense
> of local expertise and business opportunity as those presented by free and
> open source solutions.
>
> Please Mr. Kagai forward this development to the FOSSFA network and lets
> hope the advocacy campaign and other directed efforts will yield better
> results to Africa.
>
> regards,
>
> Njenga Njuguna
> --------------------
>
> Government offices to acquire internet access
> By NATION Reporter
>
> All Government ministries and departments will be accessed on the internet
> as from June this year.
>
> National Security minister Chris Murungaru said yesterday the ambitious
> programme, under which websites would be developed for each ministry and
> department, would cost Sh2.5 billion spread over five years.
>
> Dr Murungaru said the undertaking, a product of the e-government strategy,
> would enable the Narc Government to deliver services efficiently to the
> public.
>
> "The e-government will facilitate better and efficient delivery of
> information and services to the citizens. It is a fundamental element in
> modernisation of government," he said.
>
> The minister was speaking at his Harambee House office accompanied by the
> head of the Civil Service, Mr Francis Muthaura, and a special adviser to
the
> Cabinet, Dr Peter Gakunu.
>
> The programme, set to be implemented in three phases, will enable the
public
> to apply for identity cards, passports, and to access Government
ministries
> online.
>
> Under the first phase, which ends in June this year, the Government will
> ensure that the infrastructure to implement the strategy is in place.
>
> The second phase, which is scheduled to end in 2007, will see the
Government
> linking up its ministries and departments through the internet.
>
> "By the end of this medium term phase, the Government should be able to
> communicate within itself," he said.
>
> However, it is the third phase that will open the Government to public.
>
> The project will enable the public to vote on line in the next General
> Election. It will also be used to trade in Treasury bills and bonds, and
to
> get other services on line.
>
> Comments\Views about this article
>
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/28022004/News/News2802200426.htm
>
>
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