The Kenya Internet Governance Forum (IGF) kicked off in Nairobi today bringing together stakeholders including academia, government and the private sector, with the focus on connectivity in the counties, net neutrality and cyber security.
Speaking at the function, Eng James Rege, member of parliament (MP) for Karachuonyo and the guest of honour, said there is need to teach counties about the benefits of ICT, which will help in bringing transparency and accountability to county processes in addition to enhancing innovation.
“We must be giving some software to the counties to know how much they spend, to audit them,” said Rege.
Telecommunications Service Providers of Kenya (TESPOK) chief executive officer Fiona Asonga said while it is true counties should be connected, some were making it difficult for providers to roll out ICT infrastructure given the exorbitant amounts they were asking for, sometimes to the tune of US$10,000.
She however lauded counties such as Bomet, Homabay, Machakos, Nakuru and Kiambu, which have imposed reasonable charges and are currently working with service providers to have their counties connected.
Rege criticised the fact parliament had been sidelined in the architecture of the ICT Masterplan launched by Ministry of ICT cabinet secretary Dr Fred Matiangi, saying the ministry should work with parliament in coming up with some of the policies.
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