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"id": 180112,
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"speaker_name": "Dr. Eseli",
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"id": 141,
"legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me a chance to contribute to this very important Bill and by way of supporting it, I will just say a few things. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the digital age or era is with us and yet in Kenya we have behaved like we were ill-prepared for it. I think that has been very tragic because the youths who are coming up now, without being computer literate, I think we have actually bequeathed them a very sad future. While we agree that the digital age is here and we need to, therefore, embrace liberalisation as much as we can, we should actually do it very carefully. Liberalising just because maybe some western power has told us to do so is not the way to go. The Government still needs to retain certain controls. I am saying this because as we speak now, we are not in control of any communication system in this country be it mobile telephony or land line telephony. The Government is not in control of any. That is a very dangerous state of affairs, indeed. When you look at the security systems, that is a very dangerous situation indeed. We should not fear to control some of these things. We should liberalise but the Government should have a say in a certain sector of it and a strong say at that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we do not need to look too far. Just see what has happened in the United States of America (USA) recently. They liberalised and when it caught up with them, they are now nationalising. So, let us not set precedents that will give us problems later on. Let us control a sector of communication which the Government has control over for the security of this country. For the sake of the security of our borders, we need a measure of control and not total liberalisation as we have done. While the communication industry is fast evolving, we need to be careful about what sort of Bills that we pass that eventually become Acts. As the Assistant Minister moved this Motion, he admitted that an Act only enacted in 1998 became obsolete before ten years. So, we need to be very careful. This is a fast evolving sector of our country. We need to be careful what sort of Bills we pass through here so that they are sustainable so that before five or ten years we are not bringing it back here for amendment. This is because maybe we were not pro-active in 1998 when we brought that Bill here and we are now amending it. So, I hope that this Bill will actually get a chance with the relevant Departmental Committee to go through it so that we give it a long-term approach so that we do not have a situation where in two or five years time, we are in this House again amending it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we talk of information, we all know that it is power. We know that information is power and sometimes whoever controls it, ends up controlling 3448 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 12, 2008 the power. Indeed, all of us are politicians here and we know the power of the media. That is why we are always rushing to see how much control we can have of the media. I think in this Bill, there should be a clause that will prohibit individuals, whether with good or ulterior motives, from controlling any sector of the media. As of now, we are having a situation where somebody can own radio stations, newspapers and television stations by the same entity. I think that is a very dangerous situation because we could easily be subject to a few investors who might end up controlling all these media houses. We will be subject to their whims and how they think. Eventually, they will hold us hostage. These are facts. It is not fear of liberalisation and not being against investors. Investors should get a chance to invest in the media and they should reap their rightful benefits. But, as a Government, we should make sure that we have a measure of control so that we do not allow a situation where we are beholden to a few individuals who own these media houses. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while I say that information is power, it can also destroy if it is disinformation. As politicians, we have all experienced disinformation. I am glad that this Bill appears to address the issue of disinformation, especially misuse of Short Message Services (SMSs) which can cause instability. I am glad that this Bill addresses that particular issue. I hope that we should actually come up with adequate deterrents so that people do not misuse these forms of electronic media that they end up causing a lot of problems to the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is a healthy competition in the mobile telephone industry, which has led to a drop in calling rates. It is pretty obvious. I wish the Ministry of Information and Communications could liaise with the Ministry of Transport and show them how healthy competition can bring down prices for the benefit of wananchi. The Ministry of Transport is still enhancing monopoly at the Port in grain handling, so that mwananchi cannot benefit from reduced costs. I wish the Ministry of Information and Communications could liaise with the Ministry of Transport and give them examples of what has happened in the mobile telephone industry. Today, I can make a call for less than Kshs1 or Kshs2, depending on the tariff that I am on. I accept that kind of liberalisation. The whole country should embrace that kind of liberalisation. It introduces healthy competition. So, a business person has to deliver quality services in order to retain any clientele. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill is long overdue. Once it goes to the Committee Stage, we shall be able to fine-tune it, so that the resultant Act can last longer than the previous one that we are amending. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}