Hi Catherine,
My concern is why the chair should serve for a longer period
that the other commissioners. They should have equal no. of years either it is
5yrs or four for all of them otherwise the chair carries baggage to the next
commission. The endorsement of the commissioners by Parliament also do not
make much sense and we are loading too much on the parliament. It’s also
critical that the gender balance or the 30% is still explicitly acknowledged in
the bill as much as this is a requirement in the new constitution.
Jane Thuo
From:
kictanet-bounces+jthuo=amwik.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+jthuo=amwik.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Catherine
Adeya
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 1:45 PM
To: jthuo@amwik.org
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 4: Consitutions and Appointment of
Commissioners to the Commission
Thanks
Walu,
I will try and respond to what I can and hope others with more expertise can
chip in.
Are you suggesting that WHO gets appointed is not as critical as the
representative structure of the Commissioners? I do not want to deliberate more
on that without taking sides as I also have an opinion and may understand where
you are coming from.
Yes this new Draft Bill does outline the representative structure of the
persons to be appointed to the Commission in Section 5(3) b. ii Persons who...."possess
suitable qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields of, amongst
others, broadcasting, telecommunications, law, media and economics, or any
other related expertise or qualifications" (I have ignored some of the
obvious editorial errors which are mostly punctuation and an Editor can sweep
through this).
We will discuss terms of Office tomorrow but suffice it to say that the
Chairperson will hold Office for 5 years and a Commissioner for 2 terms. Lets
revisit this kesho.
[AN ASIDE: Walu, you are my friend...and I know you like reading....si you read
this Bill please...it is in the Ministry website http://www.information.go.ke/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=19&Itemid=37 and it will answer a
number of your queries. It is not very long:-)))].
Best Regards,
Nyaki
From: Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com>
To: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider@yahoo.com>
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Thu, February 17, 2011 11:08:57 AM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 4: Consitutions and Appointment of
Commissioners to the Commission
|
Nyaki,
Listers, As we continue our debate on the
draft 'Independent Communications Commission of Kenya Billl 2010'
we recall how yesterday, we opened the discussion on the functions of the
Commission where the key issue is that the ICCK will have to perform duties
imposed on it by the former Commission. We did not have many contributions
and I should not give my viewpoint too much but in this case indulge me. I
believe the word ‘imposed’ must go. The other contribution was by Waudo
mainly concerned with whether the ICCK will continue in its policy
formulation function or whether it will be clear that it is meant to
implement policy. He argued that since ICCK will take over whatever CCK has
been doing then how does one deal with the aspect of being “independent of
control by government” when in essence CCK votes at the ITU based on instructions
from the Government of Kenya. If you want to continue anything on the Day 3
discussions kindly do so under the relevant header…contributions are still
welcome. Today is Day 4 and we move to: SECTION 5: CONSTITUTION AND
APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONERS TO THE COMMISSION SECTION 6: DISQUALIFICATION SECTION 5: The Commission consists of 7
Commissioners appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Public
Service Commission (PSC). Process: 1. Minister consults with PSC within
7 days of commencement of the Act ad declares vacancies and request for
applications. 2. Application to be forwarded to
PSC within 14 days of notice (by a qualified person or
person/organization/group proposing qualified person) 3. PSC interviews and shortlists 2
people qualified for Chairperson and 9 people for members 4. Within 7 days President appoints
Chairperson and members. Question: Is this process fluid
enough? Key issue I would also like you to
consider: pg. 5, Section 5 (No. 3) about the
type of person to be appointed, in a nutshell: - Committed to fairness, freedom of
expression, etc. - Represents a large cross-section
of the population I am particularly interested in No.
3 (ii) [which requires serious editing anyway, I have done a little of it
below though still wordy]: (ii) Possess suitable
qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields of, amongst others,
broadcasting, telecommunications, law, media and economics; and any other
related expertise. Question: What are your thoughts on the
kind of Commissioners needed? Do you think there should be a little more here
about the calibre of a Chairperson? Where do gender issues come in? Or rather
gender balance as this is still a problem in many of these appointments in
Kenya. SECTION 6: Disqualification: There is a whole
list of reasons on pg. 6, Section 6 on people who cannot be appointed to the
commission. It includes: - is not a Citizen of the Republic
(I think this should be simply Kenya) - is a public servant or holder of
any other remunerated position under the State - is an employee or employee of any
party, movement..etc. - has been convicted of any criminal
charges… Question: Read through and see if
they are satisfactory? One that is not clear and in my view needs serious
editing is: 6. (1) f. A person may not be
appointed as a Commissioner if he or she or his or her business partner
or associate holds an office in or with, or is employed by, any person or
body, whether corporate or unincorporated, which has an interest contemplated
in paragraph (f): HELP! I am supposed to be a
moderator, but who understands this or can make it simpler but clearer. It
definitely needs to change. Best Regards, Nyaki
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