Kenya’s 2014 ICT scorecard

Brian Mutethia (centre), 14, and members of his family looking at the published 2014 KCPE examination candidates who performed well. The boy attained 437 marks at St Mary’s Ruaraka School in Nairobi. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• The laptop project seems to have either been put on the back-burner or suffered a silent death.
• Perhaps these court challenges have subdued, if not undermined the authority and impetus of an otherwise well thought-out transformational plan for ICT operations in government.  
• Rebranding has not, however, cured the old “elephant” problem facing the regulator, which is that the telecommunication market suffers from acute market-concentration syndrome.

By JOHN WALUBENGO
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The year has ended and it’s time for the scorecards to come out.

For the government, it will be fairly easy because the score shall be based on some of its public projects highlighted here earlier in the year, mainly the laptop project, the digital migration process and the transformation of the ICT Board into the ICT Authority.

The laptop project seems to have either been put on the back-burner or suffered a silent death.  After multiple attempts that all ended up in the courts, the project has bought itself time to re-organise and review its objectives and implementation outside the electioneering rhetoric. 

It remains to be seen whether it will resurrect later in the coming year, but for now the laptop project scores 4 out of 10 and walks away with a solid D.

The process of converting our broadcasting from analogue to digital seems to have followed the now-familiar path – tendering, complaints, the courts and finally injunctions. Luckily, the Supreme Court gave both the government and local broadcasters a lifeline by allowing them to negotiate an agreeable way forward.

NEW EXTENSION DECLINED

Things moved fast thereafter. Nairobi is set to switch over to digital broadcasting by December 31 2014, with the rest of the country following suit over the next three months.  But not all is smooth. Apparently the local broadcasters are not yet ready and wanted another extension, which the government declined to give.

With a global digital migration deadline of June 2015, this is understandable but our fairly “court-happy” culture, does cast some shadows on an otherwise successful process. Either way, for now things look promising. Therefore, 7 out of 10 (B) is what the digital migration process shall score.

The transformation of the government ICT Board into an ICT Authority with mandate to consolidate and oversee all ICT activities across government was the next project highlighted earlier in the year. Again, the courts were invited to arbitrate as soon as the ICT Authority Board was gazetted. Some industry players felt the composition of the Board had left them out and included too much government representation at their expense. 

Additionally, the appointment of the CEO was also challenged, despite the legal notice giving the Cabinet secretary the sole prerogative to appoint one.

Perhaps these court challenges have subdued, if not undermined the authority and impetus of an otherwise well thought-out transformational plan for ICT operations in government. 

NEW NAME, SAME PROBLEMS

Whereas the ICT Authority has delivered an ICT Master Plan and secured specialised, international ICT training for young Kenyans, among other initiatives, it has not really secured and enjoyed the ICT oversight role across ministries and government agencies that was envisioned. Therefore 5 out of 10, or C, is what the ICT Authority can get away with - and that is after being very generous.

Also in the ICT sector, another important player, the Communications Authority of Kenya, has had its mixed bag of experiences. In line with the new constitution, which required it to be an independent and autonomous agency, its governance structures were recently revamped.

Specifically, the method of appointing Council (formerly Board) members was revised to allow for public participation by way of applying for the positions. Further, a committee comprising of stakeholder representatives was mandated by law to shortlist candidates for the final council appointments to be made by the ICT Cabinet Secretary and the President. A new Council is in office.

The Communications Commission of Kenya also rebranded itself as the Communications Authority of Kenya. Rebranding has not, however, cured the old “elephant” problem facing the regulator, which is that the telecommunication market suffers from acute market-concentration syndrome.

One operator, namely Safaricom, continues to dominate, enjoying over 70 per cent of the market share in the various voice, data and mobile money sub-sectors. Indeed the sector maybe by law liberalised, but in practice it remains monopolised with the regulator seemingly unable to reverse the situation.

MARKET CONCENTRATION

Furthermore Orange-Telkom is on its death-bed, seeking investor funding and threatening to bail out, unless it receives another infusion of government money from your taxes. Airtel is making some necessary but still unsuccessful noise, by partnering with Equity Bank in an attempt to scratch back some of Safaricom's market share.

As if that were not enough headache for the rebranded CAK, the government has given Safaricom a multibillion-shilling security tender to provide bandwidth infrastructure for digital cameras that would monitor our city streets for emerging terrorist threats.

In view of the above development, the regulator was naturally forced not only to renew Safaricom's licence but also to top it up with a 4G licence, despite having repeatedly threatened to revoke their licence unless they improved on their Quality of Service.

Nevertheless, the regulator comes out with a score of 7 out of 10 (B), mostly earned from the previous years' efforts rather than success in the current year. However, unless they address the market-concentration challenge in the coming years, they will quickly find themselves below average.

Before we conclude, we must think about the new Security Amendment Act, that we discussed the other week when it was still a Bill. It will be interesting to see how it will impact the overall performance of the ICT sector in the coming year. Even as the courts decide its legality or otherwise, it will score a neutral 5 out of 10 (C).  This is because its use or abuse is what will make the difference.

Like a gun, it all depends on how and on whom it will be used. If the gun finds itself in the hands of a thug, you can predict the outcome. However, if it is in the hands of an ethical, upright policeman, you will surely be safe and sound.

Hope you had a merry Christmas. Looking forward to a safer, happier New Year.