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{
    "id": 866715,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/866715/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 217,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Godfrey Osotsi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13172,
        "legal_name": "Godfrey Osotsi",
        "slug": "godfrey-osotsi"
    },
    "content": "Kenya is among the countries in the world which have adopted e-governance concept as a way of offering Government services to its citizens through the internet but it has had challenges. We are aware that there is a platform called the e-Citizen where Kenyans can get basic services like applying for a driving licence, identity card and basic services like a police abstract. But this system, as much as it is useful to people in urban areas, is not accessible to people in rural areas. When people in rural areas go to police stations looking for abstracts, they are referred to the e- Citizen yet they have no access to it. So, you find an old person traveling for about five kilometres looking for a police abstract only to be told to go to e-Citizen which they cannot get. This digital exclusion is not working for our people because the internet in most rural areas is not accessible. According to global ranking, Kenya is among the countries which are not performing well in development of the e-government. Currently, we are at 0.4541 out of global ranking of one. That translates to position 122 out of 193 countries. This is below the world average. Most countries which are serious about governance have invested quite a lot in e-government. The e-participation index for Kenya is also quite low; below the world average of 0.56. We are at 0.53. With this proposal to provide WI-FI services, we will be in the position to enhance the e-government agenda for the country. The e-government is one of the key strategic items that have been captured in the ICT master plan and even in Vision 2030 of this country. We also have a number of international obligations and the country is a signatory to particularly the one on universal access. According to global statistics released by the International Telecommunication Union, Kenya ICT development index stands at 2.91. That is quite low. It puts Kenya in position 138. As we celebrate our impressive position of position four as a fast-rowing digital economy, we are also not doing well in the ICT development index. This is largely because we need to put a lot of emphasis in expanding our ICT infrastructure. We are also not doing well in people accessing the internet. About 26 per cent of the population has access to the internet. E-commerce is key and it is growing. It is an important platform for international trade but as a country, we are doing very minimal on e-commerce. Countries like Rwanda are doing quite well on e-commerce platform. It has come up with a programme to offer free internet services in all public places. That explains why international investors like Alibaba have decided to invest in e-commerce in Rwanda. Recently, Alibaba signed a memorandum with the President of Rwanda to make Rwanda the first African hub of electronic world trade platform. This is a very important development. Given that next week we will be having the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Nairobi on E-commerce for Africa, if this House passes this Motion, I am confident that investors who will be coming will have an interest in investing in this country on e-commerce. There are issues of funding. One may ask how we would fund this. Telecommunication operators in this country have been contributing towards the Universal Service Fund managed by the Communication Authority of Kenya. Some of these funds should be used for this programme. We have also opened channels for public private partnerships. It is important for the Government to look into the possibility of enhancing public private partnerships so that they can encourage investors to come and invest in broadband infrastructure and other ICT network. For example, Telkom Kenya has partnered with Google to come up with a loon project where they will offer internet services in rural areas through a specialised technology which uses balloons to send communication signals. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}