June 2010 - KICTANet

Digital to Analog Conversion
by robert yawe 19 Jun '15

19 Jun '15

Hi, When the migration from analog to digital was initially raised fear was put into the public on how there would be no option but to throw away our analog TV sets and replace them with Digital. Now that digital transmission is finally here we need to look at how to make the migration as painless as possible while at the same time we do not disenfranchise any citizens. It has been mentioned that there are over 1 million TV sets in Kenya today, that means 1 million digital to analog converters will be required over the next 2-3 years. I believe this is a great opportunity for us to go into the electronic assembly business, I would like to propose that we 1st increase duty on converters from the current 35% to 250% so as to discourage the importation of the converters. Then exempt from duty and vat all assembly stations, test equipment and components for anyone who sets up a converter assembly plant, with a 3 year tax holiday. If you setup the plant more than 200 kilometers from Nairobi or Mombasa you receive an addition 2 years tax holiday. I believe this will sort out the issue of substandard converters and will also provide an opportunity for us to develop our electronic devices assembly skills. If you make a net profit of 1,000/- there is a clean 875,000,000/- to be made, close to what the government is spending on purchase of the Malili farm. This is assuming a standard device, there is still a market for those who want high end devices with recording, tuners, USB ports, etc which would mean that the returns could be much higher than projected above. So will we move away from juts being importers and retailers or do we have what it takes to do some value add? Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Re: [kictanet] KCSE Performance
by Jotham Kilimo Mwale 03 Mar '11

03 Mar '11

Hi Akich, I found the list you are asking for from The Standard online home page. I have attached the document. Regards, Jotham --- On Thu, 3/4/10, Akich Kwach <kwach(a)archway-productions.com> wrote: From: Akich Kwach <kwach(a)archway-productions.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE Performance To: jokilimo(a)yahoo.com Cc: "alewela" <alewela(a)ict.go.ke>, "ke users" <ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net>, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, March 4, 2010, 1:01 AM _filtered #yiv689680575 { font-family:Wingdings;} _filtered #yiv689680575 { font-family:Cambria Math;} _filtered #yiv689680575 { font-family:Calibri;} _filtered #yiv689680575 {margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt;} #yiv689680575 P.MsoNormal { MARGIN:0in 0in 0pt;FONT-FAMILY:"serif";FONT-SIZE:12pt;} #yiv689680575 LI.MsoNormal { MARGIN:0in 0in 0pt;FONT-FAMILY:"serif";FONT-SIZE:12pt;} #yiv689680575 DIV.MsoNormal { MARGIN:0in 0in 0pt;FONT-FAMILY:"serif";FONT-SIZE:12pt;} #yiv689680575 A:link { COLOR:blue;TEXT-DECORATION:underline;} #yiv689680575 SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR:blue;TEXT-DECORATION:underline;} #yiv689680575 A:visited { COLOR:purple;TEXT-DECORATION:underline;} #yiv689680575 SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR:purple;TEXT-DECORATION:underline;} #yiv689680575 SPAN.EmailStyle17 { FONT-FAMILY:"sans-serif";COLOR:#1f497d;} #yiv689680575 .MsoChpDefault { FONT-SIZE:10pt;} #yiv689680575 DIV.Section1 { } #yiv689680575 OL { MARGIN-BOTTOM:0in;} #yiv689680575 UL { MARGIN-BOTTOM:0in;} Many thanks Barnabas for sharing this valuable information. Would you be having the list of top 100 candidates national and provincial categories with names of schools in which the candidates sat for their KCSE exams? If you do, kindly share it. The way the list is published in the media only gives incomplete information. Would you imagine if they announced the names of the winners during the Olympic Games and then they only play the national anthem without mentioning the countries they represent, (in our case the Index numbers represent schools). In the case of Olympic games, one has to go through the catalogue and find out which country is represented by such a flag; similarly, in the case of KCSE relults, those few who knows index numbers for various schools. I am of the view citizens should never be denied information they deserve. All in all your Ministry (MoE) and the KNEC has made good progress by incorporating ICT tools while releasing results. This has greatly saved parents and candidates the costs of running to schools, (some of them miles away) for their results. May God bless this nation to keep moving in the right direction at competitive speed. Akich Kwach ----- Original Message ----- From: Barnabas K. Sang To: kwach(a)archway-productions.com Cc: alewela ; ke users ; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 9:26 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE Performance Thought would be of interest to you. Kind regards B. K. Sang _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: kwach(a)archway-productions.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kwach%40archway-produc… -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: jokilimo(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jokilimo%40yahoo.com

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ICANN head warns against putting Internet addresses under UN control
by alice 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/icann-head-warns-against-put… Alexander Dziadosz Cairo — Reuters Published on Tuesday, May. 25, 2010 8:00AM EDT The head of the U.S.-monitored organization in charge of assigning global internet addresses such as .com and .net has cautioned against proposals to put the group under UN or other international control. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), at the heart of global debate over who should run the Internet, is the closest thing the vast system of intertwined computer networks has to any central authority. Countries such as Iran and Brazil have argued ICANN, which was founded in 1998 under the aegis of the U.S. Department of Commerce and still reports partly to the U.S. government, should cede its authority to a global body such as the United Nations. “If you think of that rate, or pace, in technology, it’s just a lot more rapid than most traditional forms of policy development would be suited to,” Rod Beckstrom, the organisation’s chief executive, told Reuters on Monday. Multilateral state control could make ICANN less nimble, he said, and therefore less likely to quickly develop technologies like Arabic-language domain names that feed rapidly expanding Internet demand. “It’s hard to imagine any replacement for (the current system), and I feel I can say that somewhat objectively because I’ve worked for government as well,” he said, adding such a decision would be up to ICANN’s board of directors. Still, the U.S. government last September agreed to changes that meant ICANN would no longer report solely to the United States, part of a push to give global constituents more say. The agreement set up an international review team to monitor ICANN’s performance and it is due to issue initial recommendations at the end of the year. The deal also included guidelines aimed at making the group more transparent. In 2003 a group of nations suggested ICANN come under the authority of the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency, but that move stumbled on the view that the private sector is better able to run the Internet’s addressing system. A contract that gives ICANN authority over much of the Internet’s basic plumbing, such as allocating Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, is up for review next year. Mr. Beckstrom was in Cairo after Egypt became one of the first countries to win approval to use Arabic script on its national domain name, the last part of the address after the dot. ICANN approved use of non-Latin scripts in October. Egypt said this month it had launched the first domain name using Arabic letters under the name .misr – the Arabic word for Egypt, which is spelt in Arabic script. Countries including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have so far won ICANN approval to use their national language scripts on the top-level domain. ICANN is now on track to broaden the non-Latin script, top-level domain names that are available into generic names such as .org, Beckstrom said. “Of course you know .com and .net. Those are English language names that are shortened, basically. Where’s the equivalent of that in Arabic?” he said. He said ICANN might be able to introduce generic domain names in international scripts by the end of this year, but the approval process made dates hard to forecast.

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Ksh 300, Million grant to promote the development of local digital content and, software applications.
by alice 23 Aug '10

23 Aug '10

The Kenya ICT Board is pleased to announce the launch of a Ksh 300 Million grant to promote the development of local digital content and software applications. The process kicked off with a ‘call for proposals’ in today’s Daily Nation newspaper. The main purpose of this grant is to propel the emergent lucrative but yet underexploited local content industry to growth. The grant which targets the local content developers including software developers, film, animation, advertising, publishing, gaming and education professionals and all content creators, will provide the funding required for the development of quality applications relevant to the Kenya government and private sector. Digital content, a major contributor and driver of economic growth in developed countries, can be broadly categorized as content accessed from electronic devices like personal computers, game consoles, mobile phones and digital TV. The internet offers the most common form of distribution of digital content. Digital content can include anything from internet based marketing, gaming, online education content and services. Worldwide, digital content activities are transforming traditional industry structures and business models. Local examples include mobile payment systems like M-Pesa and Pesa Pal and government e-services like online PIN registration. Thus the digital content industry has vast potential as a major contributor to our economy and society through employment creation, capital investment and export earnings, provision of skills and capabilities to traditional as well as new and emerging industry sectors. At the same time it is also significant as a means of expressing Kenya’s unique cultural identity. With over 3.4 million users of the internet in Kenya, research indicates that the importance of the internet outstrips those of several key developed countries. Even so, the latent demand for local content is underlined by the fact that surveys show that lack of local content is the main reason many Kenyans shy away from accessing the internet. On the launch of the grant facility, the CEO, Kenya ICT Board Paul Kukubo, commented, “We are pleased that we are launching this grant at a time that the ICT industry is growing and access to the internet all over the country has vastly improved. The future for content industry is bright. Talent, creativity and skills are key drivers of competitiveness in the content sector and we expect that this grant will enable Kenyans everywhere to develop world class locally relevant content and get this industry to rapidly match the lucrative opportunities for talented content developers in developed nations.” Kenyan content developers have already demonstrated their ability to be innovative, creative and entrepreneurial in their creation of content that is relevant to our people. The increase in locally developed software applications, websites, films and animation has been extraordinary over the past few years. However, despite evidence of commercial potential, it is not currently competitive in attracting funds and investment capital. This content grant will give content creators in the country a chance to demonstrate their talent, in both the artistic, social and business environment and propel investor confidence in the sector in the long term. Speaking at the press conference, the Deputy CEO, Victor Kyalo commented, “It is important that with the landing of the fiber optic cables that we as a country produce local digital content, not just ‘access’ other peoples content. It is very positive that Kenyans embrace and appreciate ICTs, but more important is that there are more Kenyan made e-Products available in the market. We want this grant to motivate the local content creators and software developers to originate, create, and adapt quality content that the country needs .We intend this content grant to be a driver for the long term development of content and recognize that private and public sector need to pool resources to meet the capacity challenges this lucrative sector faces.” The Government attaches high priority to addressing skills shortages because of the threat they pose to productivity and economic growth. To address this, the Kenya ICT Board has a number of initiatives purposed to build skills in the ICT sector. Among these are a Centre of Excellence for the BPO sector, an incubation program for software developers and a software certification standard that will give international accreditation and competitiveness to our local developers. Additionally, the board is creating organic growth within the ICT sector by training entrepreneurs (over 1000 already trained) to run digital villages all over the country. All these coupled with the improved infrastructure, has put Kenya in the forefront of potentially explosive growth in the content and software development sub-sector. About the grant The content grant is divided into two major sections: US$1.5Million for private sector applications and US$2.5M for government applications. The latter will be used to propel the utilization of ICTs to improve government service delivery . The government has in the past few years firmly embraced ICT to become more efficient and responsive in the delivery of its public service - from processing ID cards, driving licenses, registration of companies, revenue collection and currently, the digitization of records at the Ministry of Lands and the judiciary, with more government departments to follow. This is all in line with Kenya’s vision of becoming a globally competitive and prosperous nation with a high quality of life by 2030. The private sector grant of US$1.5M is open to firms and individuals to develop applications that would be of benefit to the general public or improve the delivery of existing private sector services. The first round of grant allocation will award a maximum of US$ 50,000 per firms and US$ 10,000 for individuals. The Kenya ICT Board expects to make at least one call for application per year over the next three years. The content funded by this grant will build capacity within the ICT sector create efficiencies, build social capital, increase utilization of ICTs by local communities and demonstrate to the world, Kenya’s talent for creation of digital content. Key dates Call for proposals: June 2, 2010 Deadline for proposals: July 19, 2010 Successfully grantees announced: 15 August, 2010 Disbursement of grant money: October 2010 http://wanjiku.co.ke/ --------------------------------------

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FW: President Obama Outlines New Approach to Development
by alice 02 Jul '10

02 Jul '10

This might be of interest. best alice http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/a-new-approach-advancing-develop… The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 25, 2010 *A New Approach to Advancing Development* At the Muskoka G8 Summit, President Obama outlined his views on a new approach to development. In his recently released National Security Strategy, development is recognized as a moral, strategic, and economic imperative for the United States and our partners. Development, diplomacy, and defense are components of a comprehensive, integrated approach to the challenges we face today. Countries that achieve sustained development gains make more capable partners, can engage in and contribute to the global economy, and provide citizens with the opportunity, means and freedom to improve their lives. President Obama launched a study of U.S. development policy in September 2009 and will be issuing a new policy directive in the near future. The new U.S. development policy builds on two signature initiatives launched by the Obama Administration in 2009 to focus on results-based, strategic investments aimed at promoting meaningful and lasting results: • *Feed the Future:* At the London G20 Summit in 2009, President Obama announced a global food security initiative that has the support of the world’s major and emerging donor nations, includes strong roles for our multilateral institutions, and is led by partner countries that are ready and willing to develop comprehensive plans and commit their own resources to agricultural and market development. Secretary Clinton launched the comprehensive U.S. strategy – “Feed the Future” – to implement this groundbreaking effort in May 2010. To date, the United States has led international efforts to review nine comprehensive country strategies, commit new resources in support of those strategies, collaborate in the establishment and initial capitalization of the World Bank-led Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, and launch a new research and development program. • *Global Health Initiative:* In May 2009, President Obama announced the Global Health Initiative (GHI), which builds on the progress and success of PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Program on AIDS Relief) and also expands our global health effort and impact by including investments to strengthen health systems, improve maternal child health, address neglected tropical diseases, and foster increased research and development. The GHI will integrate our health programs in order to reduce inefficiencies and expand impact, and is designed to save lives and achieve sustainable outcomes. This new, integrated approach will be fast-tracked in eight countries. President Obama’s new development policy will: • *Foster the Next Generation of Emerging Markets: * The U.S. will intensify efforts to promote sustainable economic development and support good governance by making targeted investments in countries and/or regions where the conditions are right for progress. • *Invest in Game-Changing Innovations:* By leveraging the power of research and development, the U.S. will work to create and scale-up technologies for health, green energy, agriculture, and other development applications. • *Meet Basic Human Needs in a Sustainable Fashion:* The U.S. will continue to be a global leader in the meeting of basic human needs, but will place increasing emphasis on building sustainable public sector capacity to provide basic services over the long-term. • *Tailor Development Strategies:* The U.S. will tailor development strategies in countries in or recovering from conflict to reflect the unique conditions on the ground, and will join efforts to promote stabilization and achieve security with those designed to promote our long-term sustainable development goals. • *Hold all Aid Recipients Accountable:* The U.S. will seek sustained development progress in all countries receiving U.S. economic assistance by placing a greater focus on policy reforms key to development. In addition, in pursuing these objectives, the U.S. will pursue a new approach to development that: • *Is More Selective:* The U.S. will seek a division of labor with other donors and focus its efforts on select countries, regions, and sectors - while ensuring critical development needs are met. • *Leverages other Donors, Philanthropy, Diaspora and the Private Sector:* The U.S. will seek a division of labor with other donors and make a concerted effort to partner with other actors to leverage U.S. investments. • *Underscores Country Ownership and Mutual Accountability:* The U.S. will place a premium on partnering with countries that are well governed and will work to strengthen their institutions and support their development strategies. • *Strengthens Multilateral Capabilities:* The U.S. will support multilateral development capabilities and support key reforms and the creation of new capabilities, where required. • *Drives Policy with Analysis:* The U.S. will adopt metrics and set in place rigorous standards for monitoring and evaluation, and use data and analysis to drive decision-making. --- You are currently subscribed to ipdet as: alice(a)apc.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-2623636-5022085.a7e639bb5366523941efc294503e488a(a)lists.worldbank.org

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Fwd: [Registrar-announce] NOTICE OF THE SEVENTH KENIC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
by paul museeh 01 Jul '10

01 Jul '10

FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Begin forwarded message: *From: *"KENIC" <admin(a)kenic.or.ke> *Date: *June 24, 2010 3:26:30 PM GMT+03:00 *To: *registrar-announce(a)kenic.or.ke *Subject: **[Registrar-announce] NOTICE OF THE SEVENTH KENIC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING* *Reply-To: *admin(a)kenic.or.ke The KENIC board is pleased to invite you to the seventh KENIC Open Public Forum to be held on Friday 2nd of July 2010 at the Sarova Panafric Hotel from 0800hrs. The forum will be a focal point for bottom-up multi-stakeholder discussions of the KENIC policies and developments. Thereafter, the same venue will host KENIC's seventh Annual General Meeting (AGM) to which you are invited to witness. Details of the AGM shall be availed on the KENIC website http://www.kenic.or.ke We look forward to your participation at the events. Kindly confirm your attendance by sending an email to : agm(a)kenic.or.ke. Kind Regards, Joe Kiragu, For: Chairman, KeNIC ........................................ Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC) http://www.kenic.or.ke +254-20-4450057/8 +254 733 790073 " dot KE for every name in Kenya" -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by KeNIC MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. Kenya Network Information Center (KENIC) -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by * KeNIC MailScanner* <http://www.kenic.or.ke/>, and is believed to be clean. Kenya Network Information Centre (KeNIC).

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Information Security Conference- Johnny Long
by Evans Kahuthu 29 Jun '10

29 Jun '10

Dear Listers, Just a reminder that renowned computer security expert, author, and public speaker Johnny Long will be among this years' Keynote Speakers at the upcoming Information Communication Technology & Network Security Conference (Secure ICT 2010) to be held on Sept 8-9, 2010 at the Pan Afric Hotel. Long is well known for his background in Google hacking, a process by which vulnerable servers on the Internet can be identified through specially constructed Google searches. He has gained fame as a prolific author and editor of numerous computer security books. Johnny is a professional hacker and security researcher by trade. Although the art of breaking into buildings and bypassing computer security sounds like the stuff of Hollywood movies, Johnny has made a career of just that. By wielding real world attacks against hundreds of Government and Fortune 100 companies, Johnny has uncovered and exploited security weaknesses in the world's most secure facilities and networks. To register online as an attendee for this conference, please visit http://secureict.co.ke/registration.aspx For more information on Johnny Long, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Long http://johnny.ihackstuff.com/ Regards, Evans

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Re: [kictanet] GoK-Telkom-France Telecom agreement
by Eric M.K Osiakwan 28 Jun '10

28 Jun '10

Dr. Ndemo, I would STILL give you the benefit of the doubt....hopefully, we can pick up this conversation again in early 2011. Good day. Eric here On 28 Jun 2010, at 13:43, bitange(a)jambo.co.ke wrote: > Eric, > Wait and see if the SLAs will be messed up in favour of the managing party in six months. They must work within the terms provided by the GOK otherwise they lose the whole thing. We did not give the network as part of the deal. We had already requeted them to manage the project. The cost of broadband here will drop significantly within six to one year's time. Economically most operators will have attained a critical base to lower the cost without signficantly affecting their revenue. > > My friend we have multiple competititors at all levels and the good thing is that the market is beggining to dictate terms. Depending on your size, I have seen sub 200 dollar per MB. As we continue to set up POPs here, it will not surprise to see offers of over 10 MBs for less 50 dollars. The challenge always is how to get this to ordinary mwananchi on the street. > > Regards. > > Ndemo. > > Regards. > > Ndemo. > Sent from my BlackBerry® > > -----Original Message----- > From: "Eric M.K Osiakwan" <emko(a)internetresearch.com.gh> > Sender: kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:51:41 > To: <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] GoK-Telkom-France Telecom agreement > > Dr. Ndemo, > > Hope your morning is well. > > I would take it that the media report is subtantive in which case, what we have is not different from what happened in Ghana re: the Vodafone transaction in which the Ghana government threw in the national fiber backbone (under NCBC - an independent national backbone provider) to sweeten the deal except in this case, it is after the facts. That decision soo compromised the idea of an open access national fiber backbone that MTN, tiGO and now Glo are building their own competiting national fiber backbones. While this means that there is competition in that layer of the network, it begs the question of market uptake against multiple investments of the same dollar which is transfered to the enduser as high cost? > > Giving the management and maintenance contract to an active competitor in the market just gives room for abuse of incumbency and compromises the ability of the regulator to be active in a market as ours, even in more matured markets Rory Macmillan in the attached piece underlines the multiple challenges the regulator faces so am afraid to conclude that in your bid to salvage the Telkom Kenya deal, you have skewed the market in their direction which raises the question of the real intent at play. I hope you forgive my blantness..... > > Good day. > > Eric here > > > ---------------------------------------------- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > --------------------------------------------- > "easy access to the world" > > Eric M.K Osiakwan Director Internet Research www.internetresearch.com.gh emko(a)internetresearch.com.gh 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Tel: +233.21.258800 ext 7031 Fax: +233.21.258811 Cell: +233.24.4386792

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GoK-Telkom-France Telecom agreement
by Andrea Bohnstedt 28 Jun '10

28 Jun '10

Dear all, I have been quite intrigued by the negotiations between GoK and France Telecom over their Telkom acquisition that were covered nicely consistently by the East African in recent weeks. The latest instalment here: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/How%20the%20French%20got%20their%20way… The article states that GoK and France Telecom have come to an agreements under which - GoK will pay the USD10m fee for the 3G license for Telkom - in that context, I'd be curious to know if CCk will refund USD15m to Safaricom as, from what I understand, they had initially promised to do if the license fee will be lowered from its initial USD25m? - GoK will clear overdue bills to Telkom, contributions to the pension fund, overdue payment to KBC: no issue with these since it appears fair enough that GoK clears liabilities that precede the privatisation (never mind the question why GoK/parastatals have been let to accumulate such obligations in the first place). - Telkom to manage and control GoK's 20% stake in TEAMS. - France Telecom to be granted an exclusive operational and maintenance contract for the government-owned, multimillion-dollar nationwide optic fibre network. Since we had all these elaborate discussions recently in the context of the new tariff regulations regarding competition and level playing field, I wonder how this helps to create a level playing field? I haven't read much from GoK/CCK/Min of Information on this so far, so first of all, I'd be curious to know how much of the East African coverage is accurate, and if not, what the facts are - if the PS Information is reading along? And then I'd be interested to hear opinions on how this will affect the competitive landscape. Anyone thoughts? Have a good day and keep warm :) Andrea

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Fwd: Kenya: ARTICLE 19 Recommends Amendments to "Hate Speech" Laws and Proposed Constitution
by Grace Bomu 25 Jun '10

25 Jun '10

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: ARTICLE 19 <press(a)article19.org> Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:13:34 +0100 Subject: Kenya: ARTICLE 19 Recommends Amendments to "Hate Speech" Laws and Proposed Constitution To: nmutungu(a)gmail.com For immediate release – 25 June 2010 Kenya: ARTICLE 19 Recommends Amendments to “Hate Speech” Laws and Proposed Constitution The legal framework regulating hate speech in Kenya falls short of international human rights standards and raises serious concerns regarding the protection of the right to freedom of expression. In a Commentary released today, ARTICLE 19 recommends amendments to the provisions on hate speech contained in existing laws and to the proposed Constitution. The Commentary examines the existing Constitution, and that proposed on the 6th of May 2010, as well as the Penal Code, the Media Act of 2007, the Broadcasting Regulations of 2009 and the National Cohesion and Integration Act of 2008. It shows that Kenya’s existing laws on the regulation of hate speech go beyond what is required under international human rights law and have the potential effect of restricting legitimate forms of expression. ARTICLE 19 notes that the proposed Constitution reflects “an unclear and confused picture of Kenya’s international legal obligations”. The Commentary states: “During this period of heightened constitutional reflection in Kenya, which has itself been a response to inter-ethnic tensions and violence, Kenya’s state organs should seize the opportunity to repeal or amend Kenya’s legislative and constitutional provisions regulating hate speech according to international standards on freedom of expression.” ARTICLE 19 recommends, among other measures, that: • Key provisions of the proposed Constitution (Section 33(2)) and the National Cohesion and Integration Act be amended to reflect international human rights standards, in particular Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence. • Section 138 of the Penal Code, dealing with “offences relating to religion,” be repealed. • The Code of Conduct for Journalists and Media Enterprises contained in the Second Schedule of the Media Act be repealed and redrafted by media representatives as a self-regulatory and voluntary code of conduct. NOTES TO EDITORS: • The full text of the Commentary is available here: http://www.article19.org/alists/lt.php?id=bEkHV1RUDlAeBAgESwAFCAs%3D <mailto:http://www.article19.org/alists/lt.php?id=bEkHV1RUDlAeBAgESwAFCAs%3D> • The full text of ARTICLE 19’s Comment on the Prohibition of Hate Speech Bill, 2007, which was published in November 2009, is available here: http://www.article19.org/alists/lt.php?id=bEkHV1RUD1QeBAgESwAFCAs%3D • For more information please contact: Sejal Parmar, Senior Legal Officer sejal(a)article19.org <mailto:sejal@article19.org> +44 20 7324 2500 . -- Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com -- -- Grace L.N. Mutung'u (Bomu) Kenya

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