FREDRICK ONYANGO | NATION President Mwai Kibaki clicks the button to launch the e-government web portal at KICC yesterday. Looking on is Information minister Samuel Poghisio (left) and his PS, Dr Bitange Ndemo.
By JAMES RATEMO, jratemo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, July 8 2011 at 22:20
Posted Friday, July 8 2011 at 22:20
With Kenya hooked up to two fibre optic cables, internet charges for end-users should be lowered for them to enjoy benefits of an online presence, President Mwai Kibaki has said.
“Kenyans are not yet enjoying the full benefits of fibre optic connectivity… The optic fibres were meant to deal with these issues (of cost) but that has not happened,” the President said.
He directed the ministry of Information and Communication minister, Mr Samuel Poghisio, to move with speed and talk with stakeholders to lower the cost of internet connection.
The President was speaking yesterday when he launched a government open data website (www.opendata.go.ke), which aims to boost transparency in governance and empower citizens with relevant information.
Kenya is currently hooked to two international marine fibre optic cables (Seacom and Teams), which has seen a 90 per cent drop in connectivity charges for big players, but citizens are yet to enjoy the benefits.
Through the portal, the government has released large datasets including the national census and statistics on government spending at national and county levels.
“The portal shall enhance accountability and improve governance in our country. Citizens will be able to keep track of government delivery and hold leaders accountable in their use of public resources,” Mr Kibaki said.
He added that the website will facilitate successful implementation of the New Constitution, as it will empower citizens to fully participate in the process from an informed perspective.
Currently, much of public data is in hard copy and other static formats that make their use and manipulation near to impossible.
Worse still, to access such data, one had to seek clearance from permanent secretaries of relevant ministries or buy it from the Government printer after going through a bureaucratic clearance process.
Welcoming the President’s directive, Alex Gakuru, chairman, ICT Consumers Association of Kenya said Internet Service Providers have been making a kill as end users still pay heaviliy for connectivity.
“It was heartening to hear the President repeat, twice, that despite various optic fibres connecting Kenya, internet consumers are not enjoying lowered prices.
“In 2006 we browsed the Internet at Sh1 per minute, yet the country never had any fibre optic cable. Now we are connected to the cables but are paying as high as Sh2 per minute,” he said.
Mr Gakuru said sustained high internet prices will be a threat to widespread use of the launched open data portal, which aims at serving all citizens.
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