* On 24/05/07 03:17 -0700, chelimo kenneth wrote: | Dear All, | | Everybody seems to be bashing the politicians without | putting into cognizance their (politicans) work schedule. Their | diaries are very unpredictable and most of them would give | preference to issues or functions which could attract votes or | popularity. ICT in my view is not a vote attracting subject under a | debate in Kenya as of now. Remember government is yet to extend ICTs | to rural areas and other disadvanatged places like slums.The reason is | simple given the number of people who are ICT literate or compliant in | such areas. Most votes are in rural areas and slums where people have | no iota of knowledge in ICT. Unless ICT is popularised first in | these areas and make people ask their leaders including presidential | aspirants about their blueprints on ICT, you will just be wasting your | time trying to attract political leaders for an ICT debate. After all | over 90 per cent of current legislators either have very basic or no | knowledge of ICT after all. Good day | | Ken Chelimo | National Coordinator | Kenya Network of Telecentres [From a list lurker] Hmm, everyone else seemed to have been looking at the same side of the coin in this (now) saga. Now we have the other side of the coin and to me, it explains all the reasons why our legislators did not "see" how they stood to benefit from the ICT debate. Chelimo has all my votes for giving a rock-solid answer as to their failure to attend. It would have been an issue if Kenya was the equivalent of India (maybe) in terms of ICT growth, and hence visibility but because it is not, we have a long way to go with the legislators. Perhaps the debate just need to be confined to the bureaucrats! cheers - wash +----------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ Odhiambo Washington . WANANCHI ONLINE LTD (Nairobi, KE) | wash () WANANCHI ! com . 1ere Etage, Loita Hse, Loita St., | GSM: (+254) 722 743 223 . # 10286, 00100 NAIROBI | GSM: (+254) 733 744 121 . (+254) 020 313 985 - 9 | +---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ "Oh My God! They killed init! You Bastards!" --from a /. post