Edith,
From another
perspective, we urgently need to craft a workable framework under the new dispensation,
especially now with
the anticipated
devolution.
It will for
instance, be of paramount importance that the central and devolved governments
( read the county authorities) who
will be
responsible for deciding the development agenda at their level co-ordinate and
work together towards achievable
goals and objectives,
develop sustainable programs devoid of regionalism politics and shun working at
cross-purposes.
Certainly,
development revolves around funding to a larger extend and it therefore follows
that with a good percentage of
the budget
expected to flow out of the central kitty coffers to regional govts, options
may soon now be limited for the C.G.
I'm not
certain whether the debate on just how this budgetary allocation should exactly
work has so far been resolved. This
in my opinion
is one of the "grey" areas under this new dispensation that we need
to wisely navigate.
The PS touched
on this subject a while back but I'm not sure, if there is a crystal clear
understanding yet on what we should
really expect.
Again, the whole aspect of it remains in the hands of politicians. Who will
hold county governments accountable,
especially
those that will not develop their regions, as others grow in leaps and bounds.
I believe you
can now see, from this perspective that governing from the centre might just all
of a sudden gotten a little tougher.
However, since
we have all learnt our lessons, we should be vigilant to ensure that strong
systems are built, and maladies existing
before at the
national centralized stage are not re-exported into the new dispensation. Certainly
not into the new devolved system.
Because it
will be nothing new other than "business as usual"
Harry
-----Original Message-----
From:
kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf
Of Edith Adera
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 11:25 AM
To: harry@comtelsys.co.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Korea
Bwana Ndemo,
It would be nice upon your return from Korea to share in
few bullets what lessons you've learnt and what you would implement in Kenya if
you became President?
I understand that Senegal witnessed rapid development
when their President would come back home with innovative ideas from abroad
which he would wanted implemented immediately without winding processes of
feasibility studies, planning, research etc....some of their super-highways
benefitted from this approach.
Edith
-----Original Message-----
From: bitange@jambo.co.ke [mailto:bitange@jambo.co.ke]
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 7:10 PM
To: Edith Adera
Cc: bitange@jambo.co.ke; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: RE: [kictanet] Korea
Edith,
Today we spent some time in Daejeon, the Silicon Valley
of Korea. The city is about 200 Km north of Seoul or a two and half hour
drive. By rail it took us 45 minutes to cover the distance in their 350 Kph
super train.
It was faster than driving from South B to City Centre at
peak hour in Nairobi. Korea is a country of hills but the highways and rail
tunnels run straight since they blast through these hills making driving
pleasurable.
Even at the breath taking speed, we had a glimpse of
their farm lands and rural life. The rice fields are dry and clear scattered
with hay. Here nothing goes to waste as this is what improves on their
productivity. Kim who sat next to me tells me much of hay will be animal
fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle and some will be
used to make bloakboards thus increasing retuns to farmers. For a few minutes
I reflected on the waste from our wheat and corn fields that would easily feed
the dying livestock in Northern Kenya or safe our trees by making bloakbords.
At intervals of about 50 Km there is a city with high
rises. The average size of an appartment is 90 sq m and with two to three
bedrooms. They don't need more than that Kim said. The average family size
here is 3.
Fertility rate is 1.1 per woman going by 2010
statistics. Fertility rate in Kenya from the same statistics stands at 5
children per woman with Central and Nyanza averaging 3 and 6 respectively (the
variance between Central and Nyanza is largely due to education of women and
not Kumi Kumi as Hon. Shitanda may think).
I ask Kim what percentage of their population is urban.
he quickly pulls his Galaxy handset and googles my question. This is common
here. Nobody seems to know anything. Google has the answer. Eighty one
percent he says. We arrive in Daejeon and what strikes you is the amount of
rail infrastructure. The high speed, the slow speed (cheaper with maximum
speed of 180 kmh on standard gauge. Note that whenever our train moves at more
than 60 kph, it rolls as we are on narrow gauge) and the goods train.
There are 60 research centers but our trip takes us to
their National Data Center. It is a seven floor building measuring 40,000 sq
m. It consumes
240 MW of power and has 1,000 employees on a three shift
rotation. They keep their sensitive data here with a back up facility in
another city 70 Kms further north. They are planning on a third facility that
would mainly focus on business continuity. The head of the facility receives
us. He does not speak a single word of English but a woman seated next to him
translates about 70% of what is said. More important he tells us the benefits
of automation including the efficiencies that government has created to its
citizens and the reduction of corruption in Korea. He admits that Korea at one
time was as corrupt as any of those countries struggling in the TI list.
I am foever optimistic that automation will see Kenya
eradicate corruption. Preliminary results are encouraging. Pre-digitization
at Lands Ministry has seen revenue jump from Ksh. 3 billion to Ksh. 7 billion.
Once we finish it is estimated that GoK will collect as much as Ksh. 30
billion. A similar amount will be recovered if we automated our procurement.
The Company registry's revenue are up three times.
Judiciary we have not finished yet butthere are positive
signs.
We left Daejeon at 2 pm for a 3.30 pm meeting with the
Minister in Public Service. There are certainly areas that Korea needs to
improve. In all the meeting I attended, there was not a single senior woman.
In this all expense paid visit to Korea, I made one
serious arror but a good lesson. I invited four of the senior people to a
dinner sponsored by Kenya (a diplomatic lingua franca). My bill came to Kuan.
1.2 million or $1,000. Seoul is EXPENSIVE.
Regards.
Ndemo.
> Bwana Ndemo,
>
> Wow! what a transformation! how long has this
journey taken? what were
> the key success factors?.
>
> For sure, what we need in Kenya is this
"feeling of shame"....that
> would be halfway to eradicating corruption!
>
> Edith
> ________________
> Edith Ofwona Adera
> Senior Program Specialist
> Climate Change & Water Program
> International Development Research Centre | Centre
de recherches pour
> le développement international Regional Office for
Eastern and
> Southern Africa
> Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 |
Skype: edithadera
> eadera@idrc.or.ke
| www.idrc.ca | www.crdi.ca
> ________________________________________
> From:
kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke
>
[kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of
> bitange@jambo.co.ke [bitange@jambo.co.ke]
> Sent: 08 November 2011 17:19
> To: Edith Adera
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Korea
>
> I arrived in Korea yesterday for a Global
e-Government conference.
> ITU ranks Korea as number one in ICT diffusion.
>From the airport you
> see people walk through with an e-passport using
biometrics. The New
> Incheon airport is 70 Kms west of Seoul, the capital
and largest city
> of South Korea with some 11 million inhabitants. It
is one of the
> largest and busiest airports in the world actually
the world's fourth
> busiest airport by cargo traffic, and the world's
eighth busiest
> airport in terms of international passengers in
2010.
>
> Korea is about 99,000 sq Kms or one half of the Rift
Valley Province
> of Kenya with a population of 50 million and a GDP
of $1 trillion
> (Kenya's GDP is about $35 billion). In the 60's it
was largely a
> donor recipient country with a GDP less than that of
Kenya and more
> than 60% of its population below poverty. They have
turned tables to
> be a member of the OECD and a donor country over a
short period.
>
> For many years it mostly depended on the USA as its
largest trade
> partner but over a time they focused their energies
on the Asian
> Markets. Its trade with China, USA and Japan in
2010 figures stands
> at %190, $98 and
> $90 billion respectively. They import a great deal
of food and the
> reason why we should not lease our land but use it
to improve on our
> economic growth. A Kg of meat here is $100 imported
from Canada and Brazil.
>
> I asked our Ambassador why we cannot sell our meat
here. He says we
> do not meat their standards. This should not be a
problem since we
> have broadband in most parts of the country that we
can keep pace with
> the rest of the world in keeping the records
especially those required
> by various standrds organization.
>
> Back to Korea. ICTs are also deployed along the
highways making it
> easier to go through the toll stations and
collecting all the
> revenues. You can get data from government at every
hour. You can
> for example know the number of children born in a
day throughtout the
> country. There is CCTV practically everywhere.
Crime is approaching zero.
>
> There is an over supply of affordable public
transport via the rail
> and bus system all clean and on time. If you choose
to drive on your
> own, you are taxed at every new turn you make. The
tax from the
> polluters who cannot use public transport is used to
subsidize the
> energy efficient public tranportation.
>
> Every child after high school has to go through the
Military thus
> instilling the discipline required in this
competitive world. Because
> of such discipline, they do everything very fast.
We were literaly
> running behind our hosts to catch up with them. In
the Newspapers
> there is a Bank executive who has committed suicide
because he gave
> questionable loans to friends. He killed himself
for shaming his
> family and that he may not have any friends.
>
> My experience here confirms much of what we have
been saying in this
> forum. The problem is how to inculcate such high
levels of ethical
> standards as well as feeling of shame.
>
>
> Regards
>
>
> Ndemo.
>
>
>
>
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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.