Following the launch of e-Government Strategy Paper in early 2004, efforts to provide the public with Internet sevices and development of content is beginning to bear fruits.
Early this month, the former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communications, James Rege, said the country was better placed to manage Internet than many others in the continent.
The root server system is the way that an authoritative master list of all top-level domain names (such as com, net, org, and individual country codes like .co.ke) is maintained and made available.
All over, ICTs are re-defining the world’s social, economical and the political landscapes.
Quality service
For Kenya to remain competitive in the emerging information age, it must develop a better and functioning administration of service delivery.
This is a great challenge—how do you guarantee quality of service across age, geographical boundaries and incomes?
But by using the Vsat technology in a pilot programme sponsored by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), communities in eight districts can now access Government information and other strategic resources.
"The programme was started jointly by the Planning ministry and the UNDP under the umbrella of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (Adaf). We have eight districts with computers, they have also been empowered through the Internet to collect information and forward it to the ministry," says Stephen Wainaina, director of Economic Planning at the ministry.
This is changing things for better. "Previously, it was a big problem to provide information if it originated far away from Bungoma. But it is now easier for me to provide this information to any corner of the country," says Luke Atema of the Bungoma library.
Garissa is yet another district where the grassroots people can access information on the government system, KenInfo. "This is a project that is geared towards monitoring the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) and other development indicators. UNDP is responding to some of the challenges that were implied in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme (PRSP)," said Paul Mwangi, a UN volunteer in Garissa.
"So, what we are doing is building the capacity of the people, especially the Government staff, devolve development in computer skills and connecting the districts to the Internet via our Vsats," he said.
ICT initiatives
The e-learning initiative at the Kenyatta University, connected to over 2000 institutions and has about 20 million subscribers worldwide, has been training students in computer literacy, Internet connectivity and improving infrastructure.
The New Partnership for African Development (Nepad) says e-schools project provides an excellent opportunity for skills and knowledge acquisition for the 21st Century. President Kibaki launched the project in Isiolo in September.
Both the Kenya Ports Authority and the Kenya Revenue Authority have computerised to speed up service delivery and enhance transparency.
But the accelerated pace of change has been turbulent. Initially, some users of the current online system at the port of Mombasa resisted the change, but with time, they have come to appreciate the benefits of the technology.
The use of electronic communication technology in the health sector, or the e-health, has greatly improved the quality of services especially in the rural areas.
The Ministry of Health and an NGO, AfriAfya, are working to provide services to all Kenyans through an improved access to health information.
"AfriAfya tries to harness the potential of modern ICTs for health. We recognise that communication is a very powerful tool in behaviour change," said Paul Mbanga, the organisation’s community development officer.
Transforming governance
Over five million Kenyans now have mobile phones and the affordable SMS provides great opportunity to patients and health workers.
The need for clear land records cannot be over emphasised. The Government is bringing an end to the manual maintenance of land records, which are liable to manipulation.
"This project is based on a wider project in the ministry, the Kenya slum up-grading programme. The purpose of the project was to document those who were physically on the areas," said James Wang’ombe, project co-ordinator at the Lands ministry.
Yet with all these undertakings, the road to transforming the future government and governance in Kenya has just began.
"Kenya has 2 per cent of the world’s of telecommunications where as everyone else is already saturated in the European countries. That means there is plenty of room for growth. We have just completed the ICT policy document," said Rege.
However, the path to e-governance is not an easy one, there is considerable financial investment required and people opposed to change must be convinced.
But implementing e-government enhances transparency and accountability, gives opportunity to all and helps to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
Autor: Alari Alare
Quelle: The Standard, 27.12.2005
