March 2012 - KICTANet

Fwd:Defamatory Blog Publication by Moses Kuria & Demand For Apology
by Grace Mutung'u (Bomu) 20 Apr '17

20 Apr '17

Dear all, the suit between Muite & Others versus Moses Kuria, which I understand is proceeding to court, should be a very interesting one to watch. Hopefully it shall give some insights on content control vs freedom of expression. See below. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ngunjiri <ngunjiri(a)kikuyusforchange.com> Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:05:07 +0300 Subject: {K4c} Defamatory Blog Publication by Moses Kuria & Demand For Apology To: KC4 <kikuyusforchange(a)googlegroups.com> This will most probably interest some of us, and help all of us be careful about what we write on our blogs. --- Ngunjiri [image: Issa & Co Advocates] Our Ref: M/058/001/L**** **** Tuesday, October 4, 2011**** **** Moses Kuria**** P. O. Box 1838-00200 ‘*Advance copy by email*’**** *NAIROBI***** **** Dear Sir,**** **** *RE: DEFAMATORY PUBLICATION ***** ------------------------------ We have been instructed by our clients, Wambugu Ngunjiri, Paul Muite, Ndung’u Wainaina, Maina Kiai and Hassan Omar.**** **** Our instructions are that you published in your widely read blog the following words of and concerning our clients.**** **** *‘I have said Ocampo has no case. All he has are fake witnesses coached by Hassan Omar, Wambugu Ngunjiri, Paul Muite, Ndungu Wainaina, Njonjo Mue and Maina Kiai.’***** **** Your insinuations are unfounded and baseless and our clients’ professional respective standings, characters and reputations have been severely tarnished by your publication.**** **** Our instructions are to demand a retraction, an apology and an admission of liability on your part for the publication of the defamatory words. This we hereby do. We shall address the issue of the damages payable to our clients upon receipt of your apology and admission.**** **** *NOTE* that if you do not publish an apology and retraction on your blog within the next *Seven (7) Days* of the receipt of this letter we shall proceed to the law for redress at your risk as to costs. **** **** Yours faithfully,**** *ISSA & COMPANY ADVOCATES***** **** **** *MANSUR M. ISSA***** **** cc. Clients**** **** *Issa & Co Advocates* <info(a)issadvocates.co.ke>**** ------------------------------ 5th Floor, City House, Wabera Street P.O. Box *24210 - 00100*, Nairobi, Kenya *ph*: *+ 254 20 340 150 · * *fx*: *+ 254 20 340 151* *em*: *info(a)issadvocates.co.ke · ***** ------------------------------ *CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:* This email and any attachments may contain information that is confidential, legally privileged and protected by law. Access by the intended recipient is authorized. Any liability (in negligence or otherwise) arising from any third party acting, or refraining from acting, or any information contained in this email is hereby excluded. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediatelyand do not disclose the contents to any other person, use it for any purpose or store or copy the information in any medium.**** -- --- Fear makes men act even against their own interests- changing them from men of reason to blubbering fools. -- Grace L.N. Mutung'u (Bomu) Kenya Skype: gracebomu Twitter: GraceMutung'u (Bomu)

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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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GSMA: Calls will remain high between African countries
by Grace Githaiga 02 May '14

02 May '14

GSMA: Calls will remain high between African countries By Rebecca Wanjiku, Computerworld Kenya 29 Sep, 2011 The cost of telephone calls between African countries is likely to remain high and international call volumes will drop with the introduction of taxes, according to a report from the GSM Association. Senegal, Ghana, Congo Brazaville and Gabon have introduced taxes on incoming international calls, leading to higher costs for users and reduced revenue and call volumes for mobile operators. The taxes are also likely to reduce foreign direct investments because the costs of operating businesses such as call centers will probably go up. "The tax takes the form of an imposed fixed price that operators must charge for international inbound termination, of which the government takes a set amount," said the report, issued on the sidelines of the U.N. Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi. A private party measures international inbound minutes terminated by operators and bills them accordingly, it said. While the taxes are different in the four countries, the affect on the operators has been the same. In Senegal, call prices rose by 50 percent. In Ghana, prices rose by 58 percent while inbound traffic fell by 12 percent in the six months after the tax was introduced. In Congo Brazaville, the price of inbound calls rose by 111 percent while the volume fell by 36 percent. In Gabon, prices rose by 82 percent when the tax was introduced in August 2011. The report questioned the benefit of the tax on economies, given that half the money collected is shared with the third-party company that monitors the calls. "The main objective of this taxation is to raise revenues for governments, in this case by taxing users calling from abroad into the country, however, the government transfers approximately 50 percent of the revenue from the tax to the external call monitoring party," the report said. "This leakage should be taken into account when assessing the effectiveness and net benefit of this tax." The report projects that other African countries are likely to reciprocate by raising the cost of inbound calls. In Congo Brazaville, an operator reported that an operator in another African country raised call termination charges by 30 percent. while in Senegal, an operator reported that nine operators in other African countries raised rates by 23 to 80 percent, making the call costs very high. The GSMA further noted that many operators are not making profits because the cost of other services and maintaining rural telecoms infrastructure is high. In supporting its case to remove telecommunication taxes, the GSMA released another report that highlights the benefits that Kenya has gained since it zero-rated mobile handsets in June 2009. This year, the mobile communications industry will contribute US$300 million to the GDP and a further $100 million from intangible benefits to Kenyan consumers. The industry also employs 250,000 people in Kenya. "Since June 2009 when the tax was removed, handset purchases have increased by more than 200 percent and penetration rates have increased substantially from 50 percent to 70 percent, this successful policy confirms that consumption taxes can have a significant impact on consumer behavior in Kenya," said the report. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have the strength to survive, you have the power to succeed. Life is all about choices we make depending upon the situation we are in. Go forth and rule the World!

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Commodity Exchange System - Revisited
by robert yawe 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

Hi Listers, About 9 month ago (human gestation period) I mentioned the need for developers to start looking into the development of a futures exchange system and as always is with the village madman I was dismissed. On Wednesday 8th June 2011 the Capital Markets Authority advertised for a futures exchange system, rfp is open to both international and local vendors. Regards Hi, The National Cereals and Produce Board together with the East African Grain Council are working towards the creation of a commodity exchange to trade futures. This process is at an advanced stage which begun with a process called warehouse receipting and currently Equity Bank offers credit against the receipts. What does this have to do with us in the IT field? When the Nairobi Stock Exchange tendered for the automated trading system (ATS) and more recently for the Broker Back-office System no local IT company made it past the 1st round. The fact that companies like Virtual City are winning international awards for systems development and others like PesaPal are receiving large direct foreign investments means that we do have the skills to develop world class solutions. This is an appeal to all ICT experts in the country to prepare ourselves to make sure that the grain exchange system is locally developed and we stop being spectators in our own country. I know it is said that a prophet is never recognised in his own town, it is time we made this phrase redundant. NCPB and others are already shopping overseas for a solution so be warned that time is not in our hands and if we are to have an impact we need to move quickly. The proposed system is supposed to provide a trading platform, depository system, GIS for land information, settlement system, warehouse management, weather monitoring and seed planting information system (acreage, seed type, fertiliser, etc). Lets get off our high horses and put a together a world class solution for a local problem. No tears after the horse has bolted. Useful links http://dn.nationmedia.com/DN/DN/2010/09/03/ArticleHtmls/03_09_2010_030_014.… http://allafrica.com/stories/200904271171.html http://www.ratin.net/mainfeature.asp?id=40 http://www.monitor.co.ug/Business/Smart%20Money/-/688614/899436/-/bypmdxz/-… http://www.unctad.info/upload/SUC/LusakaWorkshop/WarehouseServicesKenya.pdf Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/robertyawe%40yahoo.co.…

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IIEC: voting for technology
by Andrew Limo 17 Aug '12

17 Aug '12

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) will hold a two-day conference and exhibition on election technology at the KICC grounds in Nairobi on 22nd- 23rd Sept., 2012. Over 40 firms dealing with election technology, both local and foreign, have been invited to showcase their innovations to the Commission and the public. Electoral management bodies from East African Community (EAC), professionals in electoral technology, political parties and other interested parties have also been invited to the open forum on election technology. Participants will be expected to interrogate and evaluate the solutions offered by the various vendors and share their findings with IIEC. The aim of the open day is to expose voters to election technology and give them an opportunity to try out some of the solution on offer. In looking for the appropriate technology, the electoral management body would like to make informed decision based not only on expert advice but also the user experiences. It is apparent that the expanded 2012 general elections, which will require voters to vote for six elective positions in a single session instead of the traditional three, will require a fast and reliable solution. The appropriate application of technology should increase administrative efficiency, reduce long-term costs and enhance political transparency.Since technology is always designed to solve problems, and elections are not short of problems, technology is therefore first port of call by the Commission. We would be happy to have the ICT fraternity visiting and sharing with us their views. Welcome all, Andrew

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Interconnection to Other Telcos
by Mwaniki Njoroge 04 Apr '12

04 Apr '12

Dr. Ndemo, Can you or anyone one in the forum please clarify the rules for the Interconnection with other Carriers in Kenya. Especially the 4 Mobile operators and in the case of Orange .... for both. It would appear to me that given the current mode of operation, the Interconnections are handled more like a Catel type of operation. Interconnection to these companies unfornately is like being inducted to some kind of a priveledged members only club yet CCK is proud to offer you a licence to operate. It's similar to being sold Tickets to concert legitimately but when you get to the Concert, you're informed that this is by invitation only. What a Joke! this such failure in policy, and or lack of enforcement of if there is one it goes beyond reason. It shocked me recently when I was talking to one of the Very Senior Executives at Orange, who bluntly told me and I quote.... "We don't listen to them" implying CCK this was after I informed this official our company Enterprise Data Freedom Ltd. (EDF) had filed grievances with the CCK. And I was like sure you don't because its been over a year since we initially complained to CCK and nothing has come out it. What are we paying CCK for I wonder if they can't even safe guard the interests of their stakeholders? I hate to bring this up but I'm left no options, my background in this business has been in the United States and as we may all be able to attest to, they're very advanced when it comes to communications....but this is not because the government incubates some Telcos and turns the face away on the small players....NO! NO! this is simply because they have a government that believes ideas come BIG and SMALL and the environment they create is one that suits all participants regardless of the amount of Taxes they pay to the Govt. It's a great idea for this Goventment to encourage growth in the ICT sector but if field unto which the game is played at is not even, then a lot of those great ideas that come from the small and agile companies. Dr. PS I have had a chat with you on this matter one on one in your office but I cat tell you that even I did all you recommended, nothing has happened. So your comment to the general public on this matter would be very much appreciated. Mwaniki Njoroge, CEO, EDF mwaniki(a)edf.co.ke www.edf.co.ke www.yealink.com

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Customer Service in ICT
by Majala Mlagui {Maarifa} 04 Apr '12

04 Apr '12

Does the ICT Board have a training service on Customer Service ? Client Relations? Some of our companies urgently need the service. A number of web-design / graphic design firms in Nairobi tend to have extremely terrible customer service manners going to the the extent of believing that being rude and hanging up on clients who are asking for clarification of services is an acceptable thing to do. Kehl Design Agency<http://kehldesign.com>is an offending firm. Does anyone know their Directors ? I don't know if this is solely tagged to the fact that creatives are known to be volatile but if we are to create a culture of good customer service within our industry then such instances should have repercussions e.g. #gotissuez #twitterbigstick and more... Majala

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Fwd: try it out for yourself!!
by robert yawe 30 Mar '12

30 Mar '12

<p>Best Way to Earn. $140/day<br><a href="http://telemicroscopie.ro/currentevents/15JasonJackson/">http://telemicroscopie.ro/currentevents/15JasonJackson/</a></p>

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KENYA: SURVEILLANCE WHO'S WHO
by Grace Githaiga 30 Mar '12

30 Mar '12

This took place three years ago but it may be of interest. Surveillance Who's Who exposes the government agencies that attended six ISS World conferences between 2006 and 2009. ISS world is a surveillance trade show known to industry insiders as 'The Wiretappers' Ball'. 3 government agencies that attended the wiretappers' ball are NSIS, CCK and KACC. For more see the links below. https://www.privacyinternational.org/big-brother-incorporated/countries/Ken… https://www.privacyinternational.org/big-brother-incorporated/countries https://www.privacyinternational.org/big-brother-incorporated/surveillance-… RgdsGG

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Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 58, Issue 141
by Angela Nganga- Mumo 30 Mar '12

30 Mar '12

----- Original Message ----- From: kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke] Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 02:58 PM To: Angela Nganga- Mumo Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 58, Issue 141 Send kictanet mailing list submissions to kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke You can reach the person managing the list at kictanet-owner(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Customer Service in ICT (Majala Mlagui {Maarifa}) 2. Re: #TurkanaOil-Kenya Discovers (Lucy Kimani) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:46:53 +0300 From: "Majala Mlagui {Maarifa}" <majala(a)maarifa.co.ke> To: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: [kictanet] Customer Service in ICT Message-ID: <CAF3q4X0x5SYwUb52GibMxfqKz4qhEJHkqMUXXh=nD1uVTCpyRA(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Does the ICT Board have a training service on Customer Service ? Client Relations? Some of our companies urgently need the service. A number of web-design / graphic design firms in Nairobi tend to have extremely terrible customer service manners going to the the extent of believing that being rude and hanging up on clients who are asking for clarification of services is an acceptable thing to do. Kehl Design Agency<http://kehldesign.com>is an offending firm. Does anyone know their Directors ? I don't know if this is solely tagged to the fact that creatives are known to be volatile but if we are to create a culture of good customer service within our industry then such instances should have repercussions e.g. #gotissuez #twitterbigstick and more... Majala

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