I would also be very interested in getting concrete commitments from the committee in the opening up of parliament and parliamentary information to Kenyans. They need to walk the talk. I know from personal experience it is extremely difficult to get information out of parliament like hansards, bills, voting positions etc. Even information on parliamentarians is cursory at best - look at the MP profiles on the current site http://www.parliament.go.ke/parliament/members.php.

Parliamentarians and supporting institutions need to demonstrate a commitment to engage the citizens. Technology in itself won't help if the people don't have the drive to participate

On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 11:52 AM, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke> wrote:
Hon. Rege,

You are onto something interesting here...parliament using new media (blogs, twitter, sms-based interactios etc) to engage with citizens to enhance democracy and accountability in Kenya.

As Chair of the Parliamentary committee on communication, would you be willing (together with the Speaker) to champion this idea with support?

Look forward to your views.

Edith