You are pointedly and selectively unfair to Dr. Ndemo by asking him to critisize official decisions he initiated or happened under his watch as PS Ministry of Information. Broadcasting signal infrastructure is among critical resources, and so are telecommunications, Internet, servers, data centres, IXPs, superhighways, rail and civil aviation (including aircrafts)...etc.. Going by you argument, Kenya should exclude all foreigners from all related procurements, construction, networking, equipment and expertise and everything where dollar outflows are emminent.No more Boeings, Embrayers, British and German car and techhologies, no more chinese electronics, road contractors, (Your assuption being that the dollars will keep flowing in regardless). While at it we may stop trading with EAC, COMESA, SADEC, EU...to save Dollars and Euros.. Thus this selective amnesia and forceful "local preference" argument fails to remember that only 5% of Kenyans control 95% of the resources, therefore, in essence advocates for widening local wealth-poverty divide.After all, we all know how these local tycoons carry themselves around... Is it not better side with developments that equalize the past inequities? In any case, blind protectionism fuelled by just one or two local media moguls self-interests portlys Kenya as taking steps on North Korea's path to self-destruct. Regards ------------------------------ On Sun, Dec 29, 2013 10:02 AM MSK Kivuva wrote:

Ali, I'm afraid many listers are not getting your argument, that of auctioning our critical resources to foreigners.

Many of us have been dragged into taking sides either for the government (CCK), or the local media houses. If we divorce them from this debate, maybe we will be more objective.

Let me digress, we have enough coal in Kitui to setup a powerplant that can propell Kenya to vision 2030 and stop relying on poor rainfall and other unreliable renewable energy like geothermal. But what did we do with the coal? We auctioned it to the Chinese "who need the power more than us." That is the same thing happening to our spectrum resources.

Forget about procurement laws and let's think about economics that will build the country without taking sides. Is it better to give the frequency distribution to a local firm, and keep local dollars local, or is it better to have that capital flight to China? We should even give the third licence FREE to a consortium of local firms than auction it for a Billion dollars to a foreigner.

Are we a nation that has lost national pride?

Remember CCK cannot have an objective stand on this since Wambua has to respond with the official government position, and I cannot fault him for that. Only civil society can take the high moral ground and do what is good for Kenya. Advocate for our critical resources, airwaves, minerals, tourism, ... to be controlled by locals.

Dr. Ndemo is the economist on the list. Can he teach us why developed economies work so hard to support their industries, while Kenya works extra hard to support foreign economies? What are the repercussions on future generations?

Anybody who cannot get this argument is beyond uncolonization.

-- ______________________ Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya twitter.com/lordmwesh kenya.or.ke | The Kenya we know

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