Since I have developed a reputation for saying the unpopular things that people think but are either too shy or too conflicted to talk about I will make a simple point that I have observed over the past few years.

While the coalition government was lauded as a reasonable way of dealing with the electoral debacle that we faced in 2007, the truth is that for the past 5 years there have been some very strange and unusual dynamics at work in the operations and makeup of Government departments and agencies. A massive plus has been the much higher levels of scrutiny and accountability. But I would like to suggest that the benefits have been outweighed by the disadvantages.

A good example, and one that I would like to use here is the IEBC - it is no secret that the two principals had to "share out" the various positions that needed to be filled both a commissioner as well as senior management. This has been the pattern for almost all appointments and recruiting exercises across Government.

I venture to say that this approach has been counterproductive and aside from yielding teams that can work together in planning, policy, strategy and implementation within their departments/agencies has yielded a replica of the competitive, antagonistic, selfish and almost vindictive tension that has been evident between the two principals since day one.

It is my sincere hope that the next government will be marked by a complete change in attitude, with more of a genuine team-based dynamic in terms of setting and achieving organizational goals.

My two cents,

Brian


On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 10:21 PM, Dick Omondi <Dick.Omondi@ke.airtel.com> wrote:

Now that we have a court decision that clears the matter of the presidency, perhaps it is now time to remove the emotions of the decision, turn away from politics and get down to the core issues in real institutional management and those surrounding the processes and the people around the IEBC lest we sit back and get through another four years and put together another unit in the last year of the 5 and go back to the same merry go round.

From: kictanet
To: Dick Omondi
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Sent: Sat Mar 30 21:40:14 2013

Subject: Re: [kictanet] Opinion Technology, transparency, and the Kenyan general election of 2013

Thank you Ali. I appreciate your comments. Shukran.


On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 1:38 PM, Ali Hussein <ali@hussein.me.ke> wrote:
Wariga

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the read. I want to however object to the words:-

'...the election results show that technology has failed them.'

I humbly submit that what failed us in this case is a mix of partisan politicking, a knack for jostling to see how each proponent could manipulate the process for their own benefit and lastly the failure of the IEBC leadership to accept and tell Kenyans to our faces that the most expensive technology ever bought for elections in Kenya (and Probably Africa) was designed to fail before it landed in the country.

I would replace the sentence '...the election results show that technology has failed them.' with the sentence

'...the election results show that leadership has failed them.'

The saving grace is that we have a sober Supreme Court and we thank God for them.

Ali Hussein
CEO | 3mice interactive media Ltd
Principal | Telemedia Africa Ltd

+254 773/713 601113

"The future belongs to him who knows how to wait." - Russian Proverb

Sent from my iPad

On Mar 29, 2013, at 11:05 PM, Warigia Bowman <warigia@gmail.com> wrote:


I thought you guys might enjoy this piece.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/03/2013329135519365308.html

Take a look, and tell me what you think. :-)

Warigia
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--
Dr. Warigia Bowman
Assistant Professor 
Clinton School of Public Service
University of Arkansas
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View my research on my SSRN Author page:
http://ssrn.com/author=1479660
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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.