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"speaker_name": "Eng. Gumbo",
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"legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
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"content": "The completed project can also be looked at as providing a vital knot in extending broadcast to the county assemblies. We will also be recommending installation of streamers to afford webcasting, so that Members of Parliament and senior Parliamentary staff can follow the proceedings from their laptops and desktops in their offices. We are also aware that we got some donations of flight kits, which we believe will be useful in transmitting from the Committees. Ultimately, Your Excellency, it is hoped that the business of the House will eventually be paperless. Parliament will, therefore, need to install touch screens at every sitting position in the Chamber, through which Members can make quick reference to Order Papers, Standing Orders and the laws of Kenya. But, Your Excellency, you cannot go through a major development like this without inviting challenges. The key one, I dare say, has to be technophobia. A lot of Members of Parliament, quite a number in their advanced years, and even the sight of microphones standing on the tables is scaring enough. While it will not be a requirement to try to turn Members into computer whiz kids, Members will necessarily have to improve their ICT skills to be able to fully utilize the new facilities. The new development is also expected to generate huge amounts of content. We have discussed this with the Speaker; Parliament should, therefore, establish a remote archiving and disaster recovery centre for the Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit content, HANSARD material and other Parliamentary records. This huge volume of data and content generated will also have implications on the revision of the Standing Orders and copy rights of PBU materials broadcast from Parliament. Broadcasting regulations and rules of coverage will also need to be enhanced to protect the dignity of the House, so that unnecessary side shows are avoided and procedures outlined for dealing with media transgressors. As I conclude, allow me to say that in some countries of the world, Kenya is looked at as a country where some of the best ideas and policies are formulated; unfortunately, up to now, execution and follow ups remain major pain for the people of Kenya. Today, you may be aware that Rwanda has one of the highest computer densities measured in computers per person in Sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, they are now undertaking an ambitious programme to give a computer to each of their 2.5 million, or so, school going children. Your Excellency, you may be aware, but I dare declare here that the foundation for that successful programme was laid by Kenyans. The building blocks were also supplied by Kenyans. I am also informed that some of the best health systems in Sub-Saharan African countries were formulated and executed by Kenyans. That is why, for what we are inaugurating today, reliability in integrity and functionality will be key. Your Excellency, reliability, integrity and functionality of any system will always be as good as the people who operate it. For our new system to go beyond a mere dream, Parliament will have to aggressively undertake the following: employ very qualified, well trained and experienced staff to operate and manage these systems, organize continuous capacity building for Members of Parliament, PBU and media relations units to create awareness and educate on live broadcast and its implications, and increase the number of qualified PBU staff. Initially the KBC staff in the PBU can be hired or seconded to Parliament based on performance and qualifications in order to achieve continuity and harmonize transition. There is need for training programme to expose staff on expectations of coverage of a bicameral Parliament like ours in accordance with the new Constitution. Here, manufacturers and suppliers of equipment will have to be key resource persons. Parliament will have to institute comprehensive maintenance regimes for all parts of the system, including the building with detailed service level agreements and ensure the most up to date security features are built into the networks for these systems; the same must evolve over time at a pace faster than the needs. Finally, the system must be reviewed and upgraded all the time to avoid early obsolescence. I thank you."
}