Hi, Well this is never surprising , Kenya for one is always ranked extremely well in others and worst in others quite paradoxical, particularly this case of failed states, i agree with one of the listers who said that perhaps some issues are weighed heavier than others, but at any rate i believe that Kenya ranks highly in most issues, except may be for embarrassing occasions when our MP's turn things out to suit their most immediate needs. Thanks. On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 1:17 PM, <kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke>wrote:

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Today's Topics:

1. Re: Failed States Index 2012 - Kenya #16, Somalia #1, Libya #50 (???), (otieno.barrack@gmail.com) 2. Re: Failed States Index 2012 - Kenya #16, Somalia #1, Libya #50 (???), (Warigia Bowman) 3. Re: Failed States Index 2012 - Kenya #16, Somalia #1, Libya #50 (???), (Kivuva)

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Message: 1 Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:01:39 +0000 From: otieno.barrack@gmail.com To: "Francis Hook" <francis.hook@gmail.com>, "kictanet" <kictanet-bounces+otieno.barrack=gmail.com@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Failed States Index 2012 - Kenya #16, Somalia #1, Libya #50 (???), Message-ID:

<319254841-1340269320-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-1763146058-@b13.c12.bise7.blackberry

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Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"

Well I can only describe this as the epitome of arrogance, that said we need to really work on our national value system.

My two bananas. Sent from my BlackBerry?

-----Original Message----- From: Francis Hook <francis.hook@gmail.com> Sender: "kictanet" <kictanet-bounces+otieno.barrack=gmail.com@lists.kictanet.or.ke>Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2012 10:47:59 To: <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: [kictanet] Failed States Index 2012 - Kenya #16, Somalia #1, Libya #50 (???),

Apologies this is not mainstream ICT but at the periphery some ICT aspects need to be considered as well...(open access to information, ICT enabling democracy/choice/transparency, ICT in corruption, etc) .

This index is by the US group Fund for Peace. I wonder what metrics they are using or how they are weighting the values of the 13 indices they use.

Kenya is ranked 16th...that's just 15 steps away from Somalia (???), 14 from DRC and shares the "teens" positions with Pakistan, Nigeria, Niger among others. The lower the score, the more "failed" a state is.

Anyway....the links:

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Failed_States_Index (updated with 2012 Index)

2 - http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failed_states_index_2012_interactive

Personally I don't think Kenya should rate that poorly out of a 177 or so countries...I suspect some of the 13 indices are weighted more heavy than others (corruption, criminality, political situation etc) - and if such were removed from the index, just for the sake of seeing how it shifts the rankings, I'd like to think some EU countries would be in the top 50 at least....social unrest, steep economic decline, slum creation (US - housing/mortgage crisis has seen more people living in the streets in the last couple of years than in the last half a century), Wall Street demos, etc, ...."Suspension or arbitrary application of law" (Guantano Bay still open for business, The Patriots Act).

And "Intervention of external political agents" - I think in Africa's case these "political agents" are usually from (or supported/fronted) by some developing countries that would want to nurture certain regimes in order to reap some economic gain...but that's an argument for another day.

I'm also surprised the use of the adjective "primitive" by Korean Airlines, to describe Kenyans, elicited more reactions than this lowly ranking...should we get all hot and bothered about what is likely an issue of translation or summon our national pride and repudiate this "failed" states index?

Rgds

-- Francis Hook +254 733 504561

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Message: 2 Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2012 12:54:16 +0300 From: Warigia Bowman <warigia@gmail.com> To: Francis Hook <francis.hook@gmail.com> Cc: kenyastudiesassociation <KenyaStudiesAssociation@yahoogroups.com>, KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Failed States Index 2012 - Kenya #16, Somalia #1, Libya #50 (???), Message-ID: <CACeY99TtSCio8pKX5ZWba3hhk2bVud4fzx74td12uhx8ZMPufQ@mail.gmail.com

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Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Yes, I think it is completely unreasonable for Foreign Policy to give Kenya this rating.

Kenya certainly has problems, but I am in Egypt right now, and from my perspective, Kenya looks pretty good.

I think it is rather insulting that Myanmar gets a better rating than Kenya or Uganda. Good grief. Part of the problem is the hegemonic discourse of Africa as a site of failure.

Thanks for raising this issue. Warigia

On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 9:47 AM, Francis Hook <francis.hook@gmail.com

...

wrote:

...

Apologies this is not mainstream ICT but at the periphery some ICT aspects need to be considered as well...(open access to information, ICT enabling democracy/choice/transparency, ICT in corruption, etc) .

This index is by the US group Fund for Peace. I wonder what metrics they are using or how they are weighting the values of the 13 indices they use.

Kenya is ranked 16th...that's just 15 steps away from Somalia (???), 14 from DRC and shares the "teens" positions with Pakistan, Nigeria, Niger among others. The lower the score, the more "failed" a state is.

Anyway....the links:

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Failed_States_Index (updated with 2012 Index)

2 - http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failed_states_index_2012_interactive

Personally I don't think Kenya should rate that poorly out of a 177 or so countries...I suspect some of the 13 indices are weighted more heavy than others (corruption, criminality, political situation etc) - and if such were removed from the index, just for the sake of seeing how it shifts the rankings, I'd like to think some EU countries would be in the top 50 at least....social unrest, steep economic decline, slum creation (US - housing/mortgage crisis has seen more people living in the streets in the last couple of years than in the last half a century), Wall Street demos, etc, ...."Suspension or arbitrary application of law" (Guantano Bay still open for business, The Patriots Act).

And "Intervention of external political agents" - I think in Africa's case these "political agents" are usually from (or supported/fronted) by some developing countries that would want to nurture certain regimes in order to reap some economic gain...but that's an argument for another day.

I'm also surprised the use of the adjective "primitive" by Korean Airlines, to describe Kenyans, elicited more reactions than this lowly ranking...should we get all hot and bothered about what is likely an issue of translation or summon our national pride and repudiate this "failed" states index?

Rgds

-- Francis Hook +254 733 504561

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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,

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share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

-- Dr. Warigia Bowman Assistant Professor Clinton School of Public Service University of Arkansas 1200 President Clinton Ave. Sturgis Hall Little Rock, AR 72201 501-683-5227 wbowman@clintonschool.uasys.edu http://democratizingegypt.blogspot.com