ICT authority to introduce regulation to tame bogus providers
Commission on Revenue Allocation Chairman Micah Cheserem (right) shares a word with Kiambu County Governor William Kabogo on November 30, 2016 during the County Revenue Automation Conference at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa in Mombasa. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- ICT Authority Chief Executive Officer Robert Mugo said that counties had lost millions of shillings by contracting fake ICT providers who got contracts after showing they could install ICT systems only for such systems to fail to operate.
- Speaking during an ongoing annual County Revenue Automation Conference in Mombasa, Mr Mugo said that many quacks have been masquerading as ICT venders in counties and lured County Assemblies and governors to award them lucrative contracts.
A new Information Communication Technology regulation to tame bogus providers in counties will be out in two weeks, the ICT Authority announced on Wednesday.
ICT Authority Chief Executive Officer Robert Mugo said that counties had lost millions of shillings by contracting fake ICT providers who got contracts after showing they could install ICT systems only for such systems to fail to operate.
Speaking during an ongoing annual County Revenue Automation Conference in Mombasa, Mr Mugo said that many quacks have been masquerading as ICT venders in counties and lured County Assemblies and governors to award them lucrative contracts.
“All providers will have to be registered under professional bodies and the quacks will be blacklisted upon which they cannot be allowed to transact any business anywhere in the country,” he said.
Mr Mugo said that a programme to automate revenue collection in all the 47 counties was going on well and hailed it as a major solution to runaway corruption in the devolved units.
“We are going on with our ICT roadmap for counties including provision of hardware. In a month, all 47 counties will have been supplied with automation hardware including computers,” he said.
He said that staff have been trained on basic ICT skills while a national fibre optic connectivity has been enhanced to enable counties do e-business and operate their systems faster.
Mr Mugo said that the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 was on track with most of the institutions supplied with electricity receiving tablets.
The ICT in Schools programme launched in October 2015 by the national government, is a digital action plan for integrating ICT into teaching, learning and assessment practices in schools in the next five years.
“The good news is that we have started two local assembling centers at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) which will be assembling 30 per cent of the gadgets,” he said.
In two year, he said, 100 per cent of the gadgets will be assembled locally adding that there is a likelihood of exporting the same gadgets to other African countries under the Smart Africa Initiative.
