Bwana Mugo Kibati, Thanks for your wishes, and welcome back. And thanks, also for also rolling up your sleeves immediately, and getting down to work. From a synopsis you've laid out below, I glean the following ( Perhaps a summary of, where we have been , might be now, and where we should be headed ):- For our vision 2030 to succeed, there are 3 Main pillars · Political System · Economic Management · Social system May I point out from the onset, what I have analyzed and discovered about these 3 pillars and vision 2030; That there exists a symbiotic relationship between all 3 of them, and the vision. For the vision to succeed, the socio-economic and political system must have the supporting fundamentals in place. Conversely, the vision has to be at the forefront in driving the socio-economic and political agenda for this nation to greater heights. May I also support what you have explained , that the key words here will definitely be Education & Management in all the 3 above. – whether it is Hayek or Keynes style of management we adopt for the economy, we’ll soon discover, or whether it is the Jafferson/Hamilton systems of political governance in our new dispensation. These are robust debates indeed that should be embraced by all. Now, in assessing for example how well we are poised to do and how much progress we stand to make ; an honest audit of where we have been, where we are right now, and where we should be needs to be carried out. Why..? · We have had opportunities, and even formulated grand visions in the past, that we have scuppered. How do we build safeguards into this current vision to transcend successful administrations, while remaining on track…? Just to highlight one daunting task we have on this – how many of our legislators are currently fronting the vision to their constituents..? Do we need to have a workshop for them..? Could there be a feeling in some quarters that the vision doesn’t cut across entire national spectrum, and how do we address and debunk this head on..? Can we transform this into a real massive national agenda, and take the campaign across the land..? Can we build vision 2030 into our national curriculum…? · What failed us in the past, and how do we avoid those mistakes and steer this ship expertly…? · What lessons, if any can we learn from others who are successful, in what we are trying to achieve..? · Last but not least, has the current leading political lights sold to the vision 2030..? Can we organize a workshop for them, so that they can bind themselves to taking it forward, after the current administration…? 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 Mugo Kibati Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 9:44 PM To: harry@comtelsys.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kictanet: Vision 2030: ICT and other sectors converged

Happy New Year listers,

I am just emerging from my new year break with family to find all your various comments ignited by the irrepressible Dr. Ndemo. Many diverse and cogent points have been made which would require several pages to respond to credibly. Rather than jump straight into it and take one position or the other on the various strains of debate, I would like to address the framing issue - the organising principles upon which the various positions are taken.

Taking the age-old debate about more or less government which is where the PS started us off, perhaps that is where we need to head and move away from a system of politics whose

organizing principle is mere ethnicity.

I would recommend for those who have not watched the documentary or read

the book, “Commanding Heights” which is compelling narration of the manner

in which the global agenda was set throughout the 20th century. The great

protagonists being John Maynard Keynes (for government intervention and

spending to create jobs) and Frederick Hayek (for government getting out

of the way and merely facilitating private business). Indeed Ronald Reagan

and Margaret Thatcher were “students” of Hayek whose theories were

consigned to the political wilderness from 1945 to 1978 by Keynes. With

Thatcher coming to power in 1979 and Reagan in 1981 ably aided by Milton

Freedman’s Chicago school on free markets, it was (and has largely

remained) the Hayek era! Now with the global financial crises of the last

four years (the housing market collapse in the US and the Euro crisis),

Hayek is now back-pedalling.

I firmly agree with Dr. Ndemo that we must agree on what political and

economic system we would like to espouse in Kenya and be deliberate about

it. As we move into the new constitutional dispensation, it will be

critical that we develop organizing political and economic principles of

governance that must rise above and overcome ethnicity or greed for its

own sake. Devolution under the right governance system will likely propel

Kenya to the next level but if callously implemented also has the capacity

to balkanize the nation. In voting for the new constitution, Kenyans chose

two equally vital political and socio-economic organizing principles – the

one to decentralize and devolve implementation and execution and the other

to unify under one nation and centralize policy making and standards (and

in the case of the especially crucial areas of security and education to

centralize even the implementation).

A constitution does not exist for its own sake, rather it is a means to an

end. “Wanjiku” struggled to see the constitution put in place not for

political ends but in order that her life would improve. Indeed the

constitution spells out the promise of the constitution for “Wanjiku” in

several articles and chapters but especially in chapter 4 – The Bill of

Rights! It is the fulfillment of that promise that Vision 2030 seeks to

ensure. If the very bold and ambitious promises made in the constitution

are to be met, then a very robust and equally ambitious national

development plan must be mooted and executed. This is what Vision 2030 is

all about and this is also why I feel that the time has come to take

Vision 2030 to the people through their representatives – parliament!

What I am intimating is that Vision 2030 must be owned by the people and

the necessary processes of ensuring that via their representatives are

under way. However that is just process, there must be life breathed into

the process of ownership. Educated and enlightened people such as those on

Kictanet must take the lead in that ownership by engaging in every facet

of the nation’s national development strategy. This engagement must be

real – i.e. both as citizens holding their leadership to account as well

as practitioners (e.g. private sector actors seeking to excel in their

respective fields and therefore proactively working to ensure the

necessary enabling conditions are in place).

Going back to my contention about the need for a set of organizing

principles for our politics and economics to overcome crass ethnicity and

greed run amock, I hearken back to Hayek versus Keynes (the debate on more

or less government and the role of the private sector) and add to it

Hamilton versus Jefferson. At the beginning of the American experiment,

the US chose a federal constitution (much stronger than our devolution –

even the court and internal security systems are decentralized in the US

and the principle of subsidiarity to the states applies contrasted to our

system of subsidiarity to the national government). And yet Alexander

Hamilton (first Treasury Secretary) advocated for a strong central

authority while Thomas Jefferson (author of the declaration of

independence and later third president of the US) advocated for more power

to the states. Hamilton created the Federal Reserve (or Central Bank which

thrives to this day) and both created factions to engage in robust

political discourse that resulted in the strong political parties we have

today in the US which roughly continue the debate. Along the way (in

addition to the strong centre versus strong states debate) came the debate

on more or less government. The former is what I refer to as Hamilton vs

Jefferson and the latter Keynes vs Hayek. America is a better place

because politics has been focused around debating these different sets of

organizing political and economic principles, with the pendulum swinging

one way or the other and in the process, strong institutions of governance

and economic management and growth becoming entrenched.

Is it feasible as we go into the new political dispensation that we could

have our own Hamilton vs Jefferson and Keynes vs Hayek debate around the

most efficient strategy by which to achieve Vision 2030 in a devolved

system and eschew destructive ethnicity? Once we are agreed on a set of

organizing principles, then it is easier to go into the nitty gritty of

particular debates about more or less government, etc without the many

philosophical inconsistencies I see articulated in adhoc debates on

different issues.

Regards,

Mugo

Regards

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