To make it clearer. I am not embarassed by people questioning how much of Kenya is run by foreigners. I'm embarrased by how it's being done. For example I don't think it's appropriate to mention/imply in a public forum that someone is a foreigner therefore they can't do this or that. In my humble opinion if I post in this forum I'm communicating with anonymous people from other parts of the world not just Kenya and that's why I wrote "...as much as free speech is appreciated, so is discretion..."   Quoting Saidi:   "...it's a question of building, maintaing and protecting local capacity..."   Refer to a lot of my posts. E.g. the recent one on Expensive Software systems. I understand this issue. It's a shame to Kenya, but is the governemnt/parliament to blame or is it foreigners or is it both?   "...One of the key requirements, forced on poor countries by the IMF and the World Bank, centered on privatization and deregulation, even if the poor countries had no capacity to compete with foreign firms flush with cash..."   I have heard a lot about similar statements and I have started to have my doubts about such organizations. So don't assume that I support their actions.   Regards. --- On Sun, 7/13/08, saidimu apale <saidimu@gmail.com> wrote: From: saidimu apale <saidimu@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Discipline & Ethics - Re: Legislation and Regulation fore-Commerce in Keny To: kiriinya2000@yahoo.com Date: Sunday, July 13, 2008, 12:40 PM Wesley, You miss the point of these discussions. Whether they are embarassing or not isn't the issue; it's a question of building, maintaing and protecting local capacity.

Before these so called foreigners got these positions that Kenyans would have occupied, what were Kenyans waiting for? (Honest question.)

Have you heard of SAPs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_adjustment_program)? One of the key requirements, forced on poor countries by the IMF and the World Bank, centered on privatization and deregulation, even if the poor countries had no capacity to compete with foreign firms flush with cash. You should read "Globalization and its Discontents" by the Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz for the inside scoop. What we are experiencing right now in the ICT and Telecom industries is a direct result of what the book describes. So instead of being embarassed by this thread, perhaps you should react differently? Let me put it another way: would you have been too embarassed to join the Mau Mau and fight the British colonialists? Since de-facto foreign ownership and domination of the local economy is also colonialism (neo-colonialism), why are you ashamed to "join the fight"? Or is that too "uncivilised"? Decades later, when you grand-children ask you where you when foreigners virtualy re-colonized Kenya, what will you say? That you were too embarassed to "join the fight"? Don't kid yourself: there will be no real and lasting development if the agenda is set and controlled by non-Kenyans, it's as simple as that. I hope you'll take this email for what it is: a friendly conversation from a fellow Kenyan and ICT colleague who respects your work in the gaming industry, and ICT at large. Saidi On Sun, Jul 13, 2008 at 10:51 AM, wesley kiriinya <kiriinya2000@yahoo.com> wrote:

Gentlemen,

Before these so called foreigners got these positions that Kenyans would have occupied, what were Kenyans waiting for? (Honest question.)

If there is a higher appointing authority that picks these so called foreigners over Kenyans then it's them to blame (if there is a good reason).

That said, as much as free speech is appreciated, so is discretion. Sorry to say but it is embarrassing to read some of these posts.

Regards.