Interesting debate..but I beg to disagree with Muriuki and others who toe this thought process.....a quick google drill shows that the joke is on us. I checked randomly on some of your anticipated guests...and... 1. Ruto William Samoei Education – BSc. Hons (UON) Born – 1966 Email - [email protected] URL. www.williamrutto.com Verdict – Cannot be ICT illiterate 2. Eng. Raila Odinga Eduction - M.Sc (Mechanical Engineering), University of Magdeburg Born – 1945 Email. [email protected] URL. http://www.raila2007.com/ Verdict – Also not ICT illiterate..actually used a laptop launching his vision.. 3. Najib Balala Born – 1967 Education - Business Administration Leadership, Harvard University Urban Management, University of Toronto Email – [email protected] URL – www.najibbalala.net Verdict – Also not ICT illiterate. For those doing work/research..Why don't you check... - is ICT community possibly alienating itself from the rest?? -what were these chaps avoiding by evading the dabate?? -and other questions... Then you will realise that these chaps are much cleverer than we think... Bill -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Muriuki Mureithi Sent: 18 May 2007 11:55 To: Bill Kagai Subject: Re: [kictanet] Holding our Leaders Accountable Many thanks for the comments that have come through the list . it shows the dynamism of the ICT fraternity . The absence of the presidential aspirants talks loudly that either they are not familiar with issues , or if they are familiar they do not them consider significant at national level or they do not care. Either way we in the ICT world are proactive people and instead of castigating them let us roll our sleeves and work with them and make sure they understand the issues, the significance and why they matter. This is an on-going programme and as indicated in the debate and we shall have another session in July and hopefully the political scenario on the presidential aspirants will be clearer . For now, to determine who to invite was based on government of national unity versus the opposition as broadly perceived in the national political arena. After the party elections we shall have clarity on who to invite in the next round . The overall objective of the project is to ensure that we place the ICT agenda as campaign issue and we need to show the presidential aspirants that ICT is an national issue Muriuki Mureithi Team leader ICT mainstreaming in the Political Arena project KICTANET -- -- With Kind Regards, Bildad Kagai MD - MediaCorp Limited Suite B2, Tetu Apartments StateHouse Avenue P. O. Box 20311-00200 Tel. 254 20 272 8332 URL. www.mediacorp.co.ke --