Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga addresses guests during the launch of his book titled "The Flame of Freedom" at Aga-Khan hall in Kisumu on December 21, 2013. Mr Odinga has criticised the government for mishandling the digital migration programme after failing to agree with stakeholders on how best to implement it ahead of deadline. PHOTO | JACOB OWITI
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Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has criticised the government for mishandling the digital migration programme after failing to agree with stakeholders on how best to implement it ahead of deadline.
Mr Odinga said it was wrong for the State to remain dismissive despite concerns raised by stakeholders in the industry.
“It is a new low, in an emerging dangerous and worrying trend of take-it-or-leave-it that is becoming the mode of operation of the Jubilee government,” Mr Odinga said.
The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader questioned the entire process, including the procurement of the distribution of the digital signal which he claimed was done in a hurry.
“Why only KBC and one Chinese company were cleared to distribute digital signal needs to be explained. There is also need to appraise the country on whether these institutions have been up to speed on the task, ” he said.
Mr Odinga also blamed the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) for poor publicity in the digital migration, adding that many Kenyans are not even aware of what the migration is all about, why it is necessary and what they need to do.
According to him, the government has not done enough to explain the cost of the migration infrastructure and its availability in the rural areas, adding that many Kenyans are yet to acquire the Set Top Boxes.
He further said the boxes were both unaffordable and unavailable to most Kenyans across the country adding that a monthly fee of Sh500 was too much.
“The government must be aware that millions of Kenyans across the country live from hand to mouth and cannot afford to pay for information,” he said in a statement.
The situation, Mr Odinga added, would be worse when migration moves to eight other towns, including Nyeri, Kisumu, Mombasa and Eldoret in March and to the rest of the country come June 2014.
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