...The digital migration debacle in Kenya, therefore speaks to a bigger problem…and to a solution. Why did the Chinese firm, Star Times, beat the local competition? Was it hostility against the local media by someone in government and an attempt to “fix” them? Did kola nut change hands?

We don’t know, but there are lessons that Kenyan media and private businesses need to take away from this episode. In the world today, disinterested, purely public-good driven policy by governments is rare.