This archive report was first published on 19 November 2019.
On November 19, 2019, the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTAnet) hosted a groundbreaking town hall meeting with the Parliamentary Committee on ICT, marking a significant shift in how Members of Parliament engage with citizens.
Traditionally, MPs meet citizens during election campaigns or formal stakeholder engagement sessions at Parliament buildings, where the truth often suffers due to hidden agendas.
The town hall meeting, inspired by US public participation approaches, provided a non-binding and equal-footing environment where participants from various sectors could ask questions and share ICT experiences, receiving honest feedback from MPs.
During the meeting, participants raised several pressing questions, including the pursuit of the KICA Amendment Bill No 61 of 2019, which contains draconian provisions, and the proposed ICT Practitioners Bill, which aims to license ICT professionals.
MPs acknowledged that the bloggers' bill is likely to die a natural death due to its unconstitutional provisions, but emphasized that it must still undergo the parliamentary process.
Regarding the ICT Practitioners Bill, MPs suggested that citizens hold their views until the bill is gazetted, as their input was deemed premature.
The lawmakers also defended their decision to split telecom operations into separate entities, citing the need to control market power and address cross-subsidy practices.
However, questions lingered about why such issues cannot be addressed by the Communication Authority rather than through legislation.
As for the ICT community centers, MPs revealed that each MP had an approved budget of Sh4 million to set up these centers, but citizens were left wondering what happened to the funds.
The meeting highlighted the importance of regularizing town hall meetings between parliamentary committees and citizens, providing an opportunity for both parties to review progress, learn from each other, and establish strategies to push the Kenyan development agenda forward.
Mr. Walubengo, a lecturer at Multimedia University of Kenya, Faculty of Computing and IT, attended the meeting and shared his insights.
