Eric & Listers

First let me start by quoting a famous line from the movie - The Godfather.

'Its business...it's not personal' ~ Don Corleone

I guess the honeymoon is over for the new leadership at the ICT Ministry. Having said that, I want to concur with Eric on Becky's credibility and knowledge in this space and that what she usually says is done after some ground work. She is what I call an 'Equal Opportunity Offender' (and I say this as someone who has been on the wrong side of her pen) :). She usually means well and it's never personal. However, I think that the onus on journalists and bloggers to ensure that they cross their T's and dot their I's before publishing is becoming increasingly more important in this age of hyper connectivity.

For Dr. Matiangi, my simple advise to him will be to grow a thick skin because sometimes what is said may not be factual but perceptive. Unfortunately perceptions have a way of becoming self fulfilling prophecies. An observation here worth noting is that in one way you have already emulated Dr. Ndemo in that you are already engaging with the community and giving back as much as you get. This is a good start and can only work towards improving the state of our industry. 

Sometimes what is said may not be to your liking and may stretch the truth abit. However, it doesn't always mean one is out to get you..but to get you to further improve your engagement. Granted that its difficult to make everyone happy but then I'm sure you were aware of that when you took up this onerous task of heading one of the key ministries in our country.

Leaders have different management styles and there is no right or wrong style but the style that works best for each individual. Some key ingredients though (in my humble opinion) is emotional intelligence and self awareness. This I'm seeing as a similarity between the outgoing and incoming leadership. And that's a good thing. What we must guide against is Hubris. And it is our duty as citizens of this country to remind our leadership of that. 

Ali Hussein

+254 0770 906375 / 0713 601113

"Kujikwaa si kuanguka, bali ni kwenda mbele" (To stumble is not to fall but a sign of going forward) - Swahili Proverb

Sent from my iPad

On Oct 7, 2013, at 10:28 AM, Erik Hersman <erik@zungu.com> wrote:

Eric, I believe "substance" is the point Becky was ultimately trying to get at, so the discussion she brought up is very important to have.  Becky has a great deal of credibility and knowledge in this community, and as a journalist her job is to ask hard questions.  Kenya is one of the leading technology countries in Africa largely due to the knowledge and availability of gov't officials in the past 5 years to listen to the greater tech community in-country and then act upon it.  They have done a fantastic job over time.   

The perception is that there has not been a great deal of substance yet from the ICT Ministry since new leadership came into effect.  Now, it is still somewhat early days, so that's a hard thing to judge.  My takeaway from Becky's article was that the substance of knowledge is a good enough indicator in the first 5 months, and that was what was lacking from ministry leadership right now.  

For Mr. Matiangi, I'm glad you responded and I hope that we see a lot more of this from you across your many areas of responsibility.  With the changes in the way national gov't works at the ministry level, there will be more onus put on yourself to respond.  The community does expect a high level of knowledge from gov't leadership on the respective fields of Information, Communication and Technology from the ICT ministry - it is what got us here in the first place.  After all, we don't want to just maintain our position on the continent, but to grow it beyond that level and be a world-class hub for tech.

Regards,

-- 
Erik Hersman


On Oct 7, 2013, at 8:46 AM, Eric Osiakwan <ericosiakwan@me.com> wrote:

Enough said, please focus on substance -- time has an ability to different substance from form.....

Great week.

Eric here


Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 7, 2013, at 3:48, Fred Matiangi <fredmatiangi@gmail.com> wrote:

When I was nominated to Cabinet, last April, several of my friends including Dr. Ndemo, Tom Mshindi, Elijah, Muriuki, and later others I met in policy discussions like Alex and Walu encouraged me to visit, participate and engage as much as humanly possible with the ICT sector in the blogosphere and join KICTANET. The advice given to me was that in all these interactions, I would meet diverse views on various aspects of policy in the ICT sector generally. I try to ‘check in’ from time to time and keenly follow conversations on a number of policy issues.  I have learned a lot from some of these exchanges. I have met very insightful and deep thinkers; and interesting others too.

I must confess however that in the 5 months I have been in public space, there are times one feels very frustrated and almost like one is being asked to unlearn many things- even about the most basic moral issues like telling simple truths.

I read Wanjiku’s post and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Why would anybody tell such blatant lies about someone they hardly know? Many of my colleagues at the Ministry told me not to bother to respond, but I think it was too personal not to be commented on.

Everyone who was at Connected Kenya early in the year for instance can (if they want to be sincere) recollect that I not only attended the cocktail preceding the dinner in honour of my colleagues, Minister Pogisho and Dr. Ndemo, but spoke at the event. I was introduced by Dr. Ndemo. I actually not only attended and spoke at the dinner but invited 3 colleague Ministers-from Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa- attending the OGP meeting running side by side with Connected Kenya at the Serena.

In any case, it wasn’t clear to anyone then that Dr. Ndemo would leave the Ministry -appointments of PSs had not been done. When it was, we held a farewell lunch for him and had such a great time with over 600 colleagues and industry players at the Panafric. In collaboration with colleagues at the Ministry, including Ndemo’s successor, Mr. Tiampati, we have ensured to include, invite and very sincerely acknowledge our preceding colleagues in all activities, especially where we are launching products, reports etc. that are a culmination of efforts they initiated at the Ministry- postal payment gateway switch, the National Broadband Strategy etc.

At the main Connected Kenya event, I successfully persuaded Paul Kukubo and other colleagues involved in the planning to allow me to have a generous time on the podium with Minister Pogisho as this was the most public opportunity for handover. 

There sure is something fundamentally serious with people- adults -who tell lies such are being told here. Where on earth does the allegation that I excused myself to see the Mombasa Governor come from?

The meeting Wanjiku refers to held by African Development Bank at the Intercontinental Hotel was not even on PPPs. I was invited to preside over the launch of the report ‘silicon Kenya’- an ICT study commissioned by the African Development Bank. I was there at 9am as advised but the meeting started 1 hour late. I hurriedly made my remarks and had to leave when I was done- at 1105hrs- because we were expected at a cabinet meeting starting at 11am. I very humbly explained this to both the journalists present and all who had questions. I had however promised Michelle Morgan and Mark Okuttah that I would respond to their 2 brief questions which I did. There was no discussion on LTE- Not anything I can remember was meaningful enough to sufficiently demonstrate my shallowness and lack of depth!

It is very frustrating to operate in the space of rumour mongering. I sincerely think it is very demeaning for Dr. Ndemo and many of all of us his friends and colleagues to engage in such a cheap discussion as being proposed here about his and my relationship that’s over three decades old and much deeper and more expansive than our interaction at the Ministry of Information or generally in the ICT sector. It is very unfortunate- to say the very least.

Hate is a very strong term to use, especially to describe a relationship between two people one of whom you begin by confessing you do not know much of. I will let all readers and serious decent people who interact with this unfortunate discussion be the judges.

I try- even with the tyranny of demands on our time to return some of the heavy traffic of e-mails, enquiries etc. that come to the Ministry. I will certainly not lie that I will be able to do every interview, meet every individual or group of people who want to meet or even turn up at every single event I am required to. I try to meet as many people as I humanly can and even try harder to show up for events when we have been invited and advised in good time; but I also delegate in cases I cannot obviously deal with due to various constraints.

I am so grateful to God for the wonderful people I found at the Ministry and all the very hardworking and focused Kenyans that work with me in many of our agencies. We try hard and will continue to. Of course we may not satisfy everyone but we promise to do our very best.

When we are criticised, however- which we will always expect and take in our stride- we hope people are at least factual- even about reporting events- and more focused on the work we do rather than rumours and gossip.

To be insulted is painful. It is even much more painful to be mispresented and for plain lies to be peddled about you. I pray that no Kenyan perpetuates this about a fellow Kenyan, even one they simply just don’t like.

Ultimately, the Almighty God knows my heart and my every thought. He knows my thoughts and feelings about fellow men on earth including Dr. Ndemo and I remain accountable to my creator.

 
 


On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
@Becky, @Jane,

True that Ndemo was cool like that. 

But I guess everyone has their own style (remember when Kibaki took over and went quiet in Statehouse and everyone  -comparing him to Moi - was  asking where is this old man; 10years later the guy showed up with Thika Superhighway +++

One more thing, Matiangi is Cabinet Sec a.k.a Minister so it is abit unfair to compare him with Ndemo who was Permanent Sec (different roles).  Perhaps if Becky did an article comparing Matiangi to Pogisho (former Minister) we might get a different picture?

That said, I also do miss seeing the "Ndemo effect" at the Ministry...but maybe we should instead target to bringing out the PS Tiampati out of the woods..we could start by giving him a free, lifetime registration to KICTAnet :-)

walu.


From: Network of non- formal Educational institutions <nnfeischools@yahoo.com>
To: jwalu@yahoo.com
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2013 12:56 PM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] What Matiangi can learn from Ndemo

I agree with Wanjiku . Dr Ndema was that available and supportive to everybody.

Jane


From: Rebecca Wanjiku <rebeccawanjiku@yahoo.com>
To: Jane Muriuki <nnfeischools@yahoo.com>
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2013 12:25 PM
Subject: [kictanet] What Matiangi can learn from Ndemo

When it became obvious that Bitange Ndemo would not be taking over as the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication, the ICT community wondered who would wear the giant shoes left by Ndemo.
To calm the nerves and prepare for his exit, Ndemo wrote to the ICT industry and you can read it here.
So much has been said about Ndemo, both positive and negative but the thing I am most happy about is his easy approach; want to see him, drop him an email, get an appointment at 6 am or earlier. Want to interview him, drop the questions on email, and for some reason I would have answers in 24 hours, on email. No reminder, he will do it.
Read more…..

 
Tel. 254 720 318 925





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