pThe ICT Practitioners Bill has been around since 2016.
It has been looked into extensively, and it started receiving new attention in late 2020 after the State reintroduced it in the Kenya Gazette. Its analysis was also presented on this site back in 2016.
If you are reading this, then you have a general idea why people are against the proposal.
Nevertheless, and in summary, we don’t know which problem the bill purports to solve, which is why it is still being rejected by some of the key players and commentators in the ICT industry.
Generally speaking, it seems to us that it only complicates the life of the Kenyan youth, or any other person with genuine interest in ICT.
We have seen people quote why they went into IT; and that is because of the low barriers of entry — access to a laptop with an internet connection was all they needed.
Thus, we cannot imagine how much more difficult the first few years in this field might have been had these people been also trying to navigate the bureaucracies of registering as an “ICT practitioner.”
If this is how this government plans to create jobs, by creating government positions for people who probably don’t understand the space (The Council) and then taxing the youth in licensing fees to pay those salaries, we are indeed taking many steps backwards.
This week, KICTANet, through its petition, has responded to an ad by the Clerk of the National Assembly, who asked members of the public to share their representations on the ICT Practitioners Bill, 2020.
KICTANet is opposing the proposal and has listed various reasons. For instance, the Bill does not seek to solve any identified problem.
It also does not present policy backing.
“Currently, there is no evidence to show the rationale that informed this Bill. This is the third time the Bill is being introduced and yet once again the proposers of the Bill have failed to show why we need the Bill or the ills it will cure,” says KICTANet.
Among other many reasons, KICTANet says that the Bill does not interface with Government policies on social and economic development, movement of labour as well as ICT development.
You can read the entire response here, which we advise that you do because it is very insightful.
