March 2012 - KICTANet

Fwd: Press Release: Service Degradation
by james ratemo 14 Mar '12

14 Mar '12

At this rate the economy will come to a stanstill. KDN is also crying of fiber cuts. FYI Dear All,**** ** ** Please see attached.**** ** ** ** ** ** ** Kind regards, **** ** ** *Kariuki, David* *Manager: Marketing & Events* Cell: +254 736 379 888 **** Office: +254 (020 ) 5 000 000**** Fax: +254 (020) 5 000 329 **** ** **

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Re: [kictanet] Webhost Kenya contact
by robert yawe 13 Mar '12

13 Mar '12

Hi, Thank you all for the assistance on how I can contact Webhosts Kenya but this whole issue leaves a bad taste in my mouth especially when we are complaining (see discussion on 140Friday) about us not being given an opportunity to do major government projects. So far I have been given 3 likely physical locations and 5 email addresses on how to reach the organisation, I am fortunate to have access to a list like KICTANET but what about the mwanainchi on street how does he get his issue handled? It is therefore obvious that a government official will not go beyond the bounced email, I am sure that even the postal box listed is inactive We did not create the handbook on business culture so lets be careful about applying a sheng approach to business. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 ________________________________ From: Collins Areba <arebacollins(a)gmail.com> To: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> Sent: Tuesday, 13 March 2012, 10:18 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Webhost Kenya contact westlands, madonna house, second floor. talk to kareithi 0733734324. On Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 8:18 AM, robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: Hi, > > >Does anyone out there know how I can get in touch with Webhost Kenya - the leading .ke registrar? > > >I registered a domain with them a few days ago which they did and immediately sent me an invoice, I had prepared their cheque just to notice that there is only a P O Box number (and you keep saying postal is dead) on all their correspondents, email sent to the the email address from which the invoice was sent keeps bouncing. > > >At one point I was tempted to actually send the payment via the post office but since I had received a final warning that the registration would be reversed I had to act quickly. > > >In frustration I changed the payment method to mpesa and made the remittance but I am still receiving messages indicating that I have an outstanding bill. > > >Regarads > >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 > >Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/arebacollins%40gmail.c… > >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. > >KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. > -- “The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy”

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ICANN 43 Opening Speech by the Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla
by waudo siganga 13 Mar '12

13 Mar '12

Dear Colleagues - could be of interest to those following ICANN/IG. President Chinchilla's speech opening the 43rd Public Meeting of ICANN is available at: [1]http://costarica43.icann.org/node/29527 [2]Transcript: President Chinchilla's Speech [3]http://costarica43.icann.org/meetings/sanjose2012/transcript-p resident-chinchilla-speech-12mar12-en.pdf References 1. http://costarica43.icann.org/node/29527 2. http://uk.mg6.mail.yahoo.com/meetings/sanjose2012/transcript-president-chin… 3. http://costarica43.icann.org/meetings/sanjose2012/transcript-president-chin…

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Webhost Kenya contact
by robert yawe 13 Mar '12

13 Mar '12

Hi, Does anyone out there know how I can get in touch with Webhost Kenya - the leading .ke registrar? I registered a domain with them a few days ago which they did and immediately sent me an invoice, I had prepared their cheque just to notice that there is only a P O Box number (and you keep saying postal is dead) on all their correspondents, email sent to the the email address from which the invoice was sent keeps bouncing. At one point I was tempted to actually send the payment via the post office but since I had received a final warning that the registration would be reversed I had to act quickly. In frustration I changed the payment method to mpesa and made the remittance but I am still receiving messages indicating that I have an outstanding bill. Regarads Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Fwd: IGF 2012 Call for Workshop Proposals.
by waudo siganga 12 Mar '12

12 Mar '12

Apologies for any cross-postings. Kindly note that the call for workshop proposals for the IGF Baku meeting is out with a deadline of 12th April. ----- Original message ----- From: "Chengetai Masango" <[1]cmasango(a)unog.ch> To: "igf Forum" <[2]igf_members(a)intgovforum.org> Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:22:43 -0600 Subject: [igf_members] 2012 Call for Workshop Proposals. Dear All, The 2012 call for workshop proposals will go up on the IGF website tomorrow afternoon CET (Monday). [3]http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/w2012 The deadline for submission has been set for 12 April 2012. I would be grateful if you could spread the word to your respective stakeholder groups. Best regards Chengetai _______________________________________________ igf_members mailing list igf_members(a)intgovforum.org http://mail.intgovforum.org/mailman/listinfo/igf_members_intgovforum.org References 1. mailto:cmasango@unog.ch 2. mailto:igf_members@intgovforum.org 3. http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/w2012

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Wanted: A new KBC now!
by Grace Githaiga 12 Mar '12

12 Mar '12

Wanted: A new KBC now! http://www.eastafricapress.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id… “The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” – Steve Biko.Workers at Kenya Broadcasting Corporation seem to have been possessed by the spirit of Biko’s words. And KBC may never be the same again. The Bulletin salutes the workers for their successful strike that ended last week. Folks, that was fantastic!When a wave of strikes swept the country last year, indistinct murmurs of discontent were heard at Broadcasting House on Harry Thuku Road, Nairobi. Nothing unusual. Nobody, not even The Bulletin in its not-so-grey-haired wisdom, thought much of the grumbling.The woeful tale of how the public broadcaster is run like a tea-and-mandazi kiosk in Muthurwa by its managers and other interested elements outside Broadcasting House is common knowledge.The KBC board has often been peopled by characters, currently including a pastor and a former school head, who have no idea what running a public broadcaster is all about.We have had occasion to wonder on these pages how any serious organisation would hire a clown of no known managerial acumen to run about 20 radio stations. And without training in mass media or communication or journalism; whatever you will call it.People have been working at KBC for years without a contract. Morale is always at an “all-time” low. Mystery surrounds hiring and promotions. The corporation pays the bulk of its workers peanuts, while the top guns enjoy good salaries and benefits.Facilities at KBC belong in the last century. Who built those timber prefabs, by the way, and why? Were they not supposed to be temporary?KBC news is still for all intents and purposes controlled by powerful individuals outside the corporation, not the editors.Independent TV producers who sell local programmes to the broadcaster are owed millions of shillings.Things hit rock bottom when the corporation’s immediate former MD and the legal secretary were sacked last year and charged with fraud.But the longsuffering KBC staff surprised everyone. They channelled their grievances to Parliament and even spoke to their media colleagues about their plight. That was exemplary courage, given the very sorry state of industrial organisation in the media sector in Kenya.Media people often waste no time exposing the suffering of workers in other sectors, but not their own. Within the industry, everyone fights for themselves – by talking nicely to the boss, getting oneself a tribal godfather, agreeing to some funny demands, or fleeing to greener pastures elsewhere.At KBC the bosses were alarmed by the turn of events. They tried to contain the situation through manipulation and vague pledges. Around Christmas, with a strike threat looming, the management laid on a huge end-of-year bash to try to mollify restive workers. We reviewed it here.The message from the top guns was the usual baloney: We are family. We greatly value your work. You have put KBC on the national (sorry, world) map. We are human too: We understand your complaints. But you also really ought to be grateful that you have a job at all in these hard times. Things are complicated, but we are going to do something soon…But the workers enjoyed the bash, went home for Christmas and returned unbowed to announce that they would down their tools in a matter of weeks if their grievances were not fully addressed.And that is what happened the other week. Management tried a worm-eaten carrot here and a stick there. The workers stayed put. They paralysed operations at the “leading national broadcaster”.MD Waithaka Waihenya, the former newspaperman who has a passion for fiction writing, had a real crisis on his hands. Workers carried screaming placards and chanted slogans. They spilt the beans on the streets about the ugly skeletons hidden behind that beautiful gate manned by GSU toughies on Harry Thuku Road and announced: ‘the donkey is tired’.The media, as expected, feasted on the strike – with reporters from various media houses pretending they did not have similar problems at their own places of work, or even worse. Anyway, they were doing the story they were assigned.But the Star newspaper came out to condemn the “wildcat strike” in an editorial. KBC management had agreed to some demands and negotiations with union officials were ongoing. The union had distanced itself from the strike. And even that garrulous unionist-in-chief, Francis Atwoli, asked the workers to return to work. Was the Star for real? Was Mr Atwoli genuine or speaking with an eye on his future coverage?Anyone who knows anything about trade unions in Kenya today would be very sceptical when officials and industry captains appear to read from the same page. KBC workers seemed to be alive to this fact. They went ahead full steam.And then came the big one: Information and Communication Minister Samuel Poghisio surfaced, looking quite no-nonsense. He declared the strike illegal and ordered the workers back to work or they would be sacked within hours and their jobs advertised.The workers ignored him… And the rest, as you well know, is history. He ate his words.Last week, KBC workers’ reps appeared before a parliamentary committee and spoke very candidly. Their bosses followed, sweating out details about the state of things at KBC.Wasn’t that a great sight? Management denied all that stuff about “sexually transmitted promotions” and “interviews on the carpet”, which KBC insiders afraid of victimisation alleged to be rife.In other parts of the world, there would be sacking and resignations of managers at the public broadcaster if stuff like that became public. Not in Kenya.There was Walter Mong’are a.k.a Nyambane, the Radio Programmes Manager, his clownish grin wiped off his face, trying to explain that he went to some of the best schools in the country and that as a Kenyan he is entitled to a job. Workers had demanded to know how he got his job and whether he had the required qualifications. Beautiful!Indeed, Kenya was watching, as the Channel One TV slogan goes. KBC will never remain the same again. The momentum the workers have set must be sustained. A new KBC Act is needed urgently, together with other key reforms. The corporation must be turned into a world-class public broadcaster in line with provisions of the Constitution to serve the people of Kenya.The days when KBC was a seedy mess where bosses conduct “ horizontal interviews”, when managers were also the institution’s suppliers, when news content was decided outside the newsroom, when underpaid workers lived in mortal dread of the landlord, etc, must surely belong to the past.And we have the resolve of KBC’s workers to thank for that. The Bulletin celebrates you!

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Re: [kictanet] [ISOC_KE] Fw: [ICANN-discuss] IANA RFP Canceled
by Walubengo J 12 Mar '12

12 Mar '12

Barrack, this looks like a serious development...IANA oversees the global IP address allocation under ICANN through a contract signed with the US Govt. This contract is expiring and so there is need to shop around for proposals (RFP) on the way forward. The cancellation of the RFP leaves more questions than answers.. walu. --- On Sun, 3/11/12, otieno.barrack(a)gmail.com <otieno.barrack(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: otieno.barrack(a)gmail.com <otieno.barrack(a)gmail.com> Subject: [ISOC_KE] Fw: [ICANN-discuss] IANA RFP Canceled To: isoc(a)orion.my.co.ke Date: Sunday, March 11, 2012, 6:14 PM Sent from my BlackBerry® -----Original Message----- From: Joly MacFie <joly(a)punkcast.com> Sender: icann-discuss-bounces(a)elists.isoc.org Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:21:23 To: ISOC icann-discuss<icann-discuss(a)elists.isoc.org> Reply-To: joly(a)punkcast.com Cc: <x-pubpol(a)isoc-ny.org> Subject: [ICANN-discuss] IANA RFP Canceled http://domainincite.com/ntia-says-icann-does-not-meet-the-requirements-for-… NTIA says ICANN "does not meet the requirements" for IANA renewal Kevin Murphy, March 10, 2012, 15:21:51 (UTC), Domain Policy The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has dealt a stunning blow to ICANN in its bid to carry on running the internet's critical IANA functions. The NTIA said this hour that it has canceled the RFP for the new IANA contract "because we received no proposals that met the requirements requested by the global community" NTIA thinks that ICANN's bid was unsatisfactory, in other words. The NTIA said: Based on the input received from stakeholders around the world, NTIA added new requirements to the IANA functions' statement of work, including the need for structural separation of policymaking from implementation, a robust companywide conflict of interest policy, provisions reflecting heightened respect for local country laws, and a series of consultation and reporting requirements to increase transparency and accountability to the international community. The government may cancel any solicitation that does not meet the requirements. Accordingly, we are cancelling this RFP because we received no proposals that met the requirements requested by the global community. The Department intends to reissue the RFP at a future date to be determined (TBD) so that the requirements of the global internet community can be served. However, it has extended ICANN's current IANA contract until September 30, 2012. This means ICANN still has its IANA powers over the DNS root zone, at least for another six months. While the NTIA has not yet revealed where ICANN's bid for the contract fell short, it is known that the NTIA and ICANN's senior management did not exactly see eye to eye on certain issues. One of the key sticking points is the NTIA's demand that the IANA contractor - ICANN - must document that all new gTLD delegations are in "the global public interest". This demand is a way to prevent another controversy such as the approval of .xxx a year ago, which the Governmental Advisory Committee objected to on the grounds that it was not the "the global public interest". Coupled with newly strengthened Applicant Guidebook powers for the GAC to object to new gTLD application, the IANA language could be described as "if the GAC objects, you must reject". If the GAC were to declare .gay or .catholic "not in the global public interest", it would be pretty tough for ICANN to prove otherwise. But ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom has previously stated that he believed such rules imposed by the US government would undermine the multistakeholder process. He told the NTIA last June that the draft IANA contract language stood to "rewrite" ICANN's own process when it came to approving new gTLDs. The IANA functions contract should not be used to rewrite the policy and implementation process adopted through the bottom-up decision-making process. Not only would this undermine the very principle of the multi-stakeholder model, it would be inconsistent with the objective of more clearly distinguishing policy development from operational implementation by the IANA functions operator. Since then, language requiring ICANN to prove "consensus" on new gTLD delegations was removed, but language requiring it to demonstrate the "global public interest" remains. The game is bigger than petty squabbling about new gTLDs, however. The US government is worried about International Telecommunications Union treaty talks later this year, which many countries want to use to push for government-led internet governance. A strong GAC, backed by an enforceable IANA contract, is one way to field concerns that ICANN is not responsive enough to government interests. It's tempting to view the deferral of the IANA renewal as an attempt to wait out Beckstrom's tenure as CEO - he's set to leave at the end of June - and deal with a more compliant replacement instead. -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org -------------------------------------------------------------- - _______________________________________________ To manage your ISOC subscriptions or unsubscribe, please log into the ISOC Member Portal: https://portal.isoc.org/ Then choose Interests & Subscriptions from the My Account menu. _______________________________________________ isoc mailing list isoc(a)orion.my.co.ke http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/isoc

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Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Website
by Dennis Kioko 12 Mar '12

12 Mar '12

I wonder whether the two websites associated with the above institution: http://www.knbs.or.ke/ and http://statistics.knbs.or.ke/ . Maybe they are under renovation for a better future? -- with Regards: blog.denniskioko.com <http://www.denniskioko.com/>

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140Friday. . . and I wept
by robert yawe 12 Mar '12

12 Mar '12

Hi, I took time to attend the 140Friday session and at the end I wept first because as I sat there I realised that this was yet another talk shop activity in full swing but most importantly was the rubbishing of the late Evelyn Rono's efforts to give the sector a voice through KEPSA. Evelyn spent many hours lobbying for the ICT sector within the government an effort that has come to nought as we, yet again, scatter off into our various selfish corners. If all those tributes we kept sending around after she past away were genuine then lets honour her by continuing from where she left off instead of going off in a tangent. It was suggested by Dr. Ndemo and echoed by Mr. Kokubo that a team be formed to prepare a white paper on the issues that arose during the session, it was suggested that this would be best handled through the ICT Sector of KEPSA just for one of the panel to wrongly imply that KEPSA was an association for manufacturers (that organisation is called KAM who are also members of KEPSA). Dan Awendo of Investeq indicated that what is ailing us as an industry is the one man show syndrome and the leopard hunting mentality. If we can not within us form a body that can speak in one voice then all the efforts are a waste of time and resources. I will repeat what I raised a while back when I was not able to get a platform from which to take over the governorship of the ICT sector at KEPSA from Evelyn because the Computer Society of Kenya who I assumed would propose me had lapsed their membership. Unless we as an industry can speak in one voice and become a constituency then we shall continue to wallow in the miasma of deceit that was the session we had today, together we stand divided we fall. Twitter town hall meetings will not resolve what ails the industry it is only if we learn to come together that we can make an impact. KEPSA swings a sledge hammer on behalf of any of its sectors, it recommends who seats on government committees that require private sector participation and finally it has the machinery to draft and push through legislation. Forming small little talk shops will not make any progress and I read an ulterior motive to the proposal by Mr. Kokubo to form an "independent" group to prepare the white paper. He is very well aware that such a group will never see the day of light but if it was under the umbrella of KEPSA well that will be another issue. 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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Maybe interesting: What's keeping international VC out of Africa?
by Andrea Bohnstedt 12 Mar '12

12 Mar '12

http://www.africa-assets.com/news/what%E2%80%99s-keeping-international-vc-o… Have a lovely week, everyone! -- Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt> Publisher +254 720 960 322 www.ratio-magazine.com Find/post East Africa careers<http://www.ratio-magazine.com/careers/index.php> Find/post conferences, workshops, trainings, other business events<http://www.ratio-magazine.com/businessevents/index.php>

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