As
a non-ICT person—just a KICTANET donor--I am compelled to add my two bits
to the debate.
To
my mind, Brian Longwe’s nationality is not so much an issue of entryism,
but rather one of xenophobia, a phenomenon that we Kenyans appear have a high
affinity to given our propensity to ethnic hatred and even violence.
Xenophobia: an intense
dislike and/or fear of people from other nationalities. It comes from the Greek
words ξένος (xenos),
meaning "foreigner," "stranger," and
φόβος (phobos),
meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or
dislike of foreigners or of people significantly different from
oneself.
To
my mind, Brian Longwe’s intelligent and valuable contributions to the ICT
sector in
I
am a bit puzzled as to how the possession of Kenyan nationality is being automatically
equated with positive contributions to the nation—as somehow if we have a
Kenyan in the post that things will be done better. This is particularly the
case when I look around me and see a Kenyan Commissioner of Police who is happy
to kill unarmed pro-democracy advocates; a greedy parliament (all Kenyan) that is
happy to award themselves exhorbitantly high salaries without paying tax; and a
Kenyan government that is renown worldwide for some of the highest levels of
corruption. Is their contribution to our nation calibrated solely on their
possession of a piece of paper that labels them Kenyan?
I
believe we should judge a person’s contributions to bettering of the
nation by their actions, regardless of their nationality.
As
the debate for constitutional reform moves forward, I also wonder where this
leaves the xenophobes. We may soon have a provision for dual nationality.
Best
From:
kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of aki
Sent: 2008-12-03 13:27
To:
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy
Discussions
Subject: [kictanet] Entryism
according to some dictionaries
The net has some interesting views on
this, something that came to mind while reading world politics
a while back..
Entryism is a
political tactic in which an organisation or group enters a larger organisation
in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to take control of the larger
organisations' structure. This technique is commonly used by groups from the
far left or right of the political spectrum to enter more centrist
institutions. This is experienced more frequently in arenas where opportunities
for political activity at the fringes is limited, such as two
party/majoritarian systems rather than in multiparty/proportional systems where
the cost of entry into the political system is lower. Organisations which are
the subject of entryism often react by attempting either to marginalise or
expel the pratagonists.