May 2011 | Vol 3 | Issue 2
CCK should be independent
L
ast month at the height of the leadership limbo at the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK), I ran a poll on my linkedin network. The list is made up of of mostly people within the IT industry and the question I asked was “Is the Minister for Information and Communication justified in overturning the CCK Board decision to sack the Director General”. The result did not surprise me. Fifty percentage points of the respondents answered “yes” and the other fifty answered “no”. And talking and listening to what people are saying in the industry, this is representative of the general perception. The industry is divided right in the middle as far as the CCK fiasco is concerned.
From the Publisher
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That notwithstanding, the Minister has revoked the Board’s decision, Mr Charles Jackson Njoroge is back at the helm of this very crucial organ not just in the sector but in the country; a few directors have been dropped or retired including the Chairman of the Board, Eng. Philip Okundi. The dust seems to have settled and all appears to be well again. But then I ask, what was all that about? A friend of mine tells me it’s about power and politics; another tells me its about government, read the Minister, meddling into the independence of an independent regulatory body; and another tells me its about a partisan Board overstepping its mandate and settling scores. Whatever it may have been, it appears to me that it had nothing to do with Mr Njoroge’s performance or lack of the same as a Director General. Globally, CCK is rated and regarded very highly. Last year for instance the GSM Association awarded Kenya the Government Leadership Award. The Award recognises the leadership role played by Kenya in extending the benefits of mobile technology to more consumers by cutting tax on mobile phones and information communication technology (ICT) equipment and promoting the early roll-out of mobile broadband.
Mr Njoroge’s problems seem to have begun when CCK started the implementation of the fi rst phase of the Telecommunications Network Cost Study recommendations that resulted in the reduction of interconnection rates by 37% and retail tariffs by between 30% and 50%. This sparked a downward spiral on mobile communication costs of upto 60% in some networks and this did not go down well in some quarters. Some legal minds have faulted both the appointing authority and the board in the manner in which they handled the situation. The Board was misled to purport to suspend the Director General without consulting the appointing authority and the appointing authority’s decision to ignore recommendations of the Board was equally wrong. From where I stand, this goes to question the independence of CCK in regulating the sector. Press reports indicate that operators opposed to the new tariff regulations and the introduction of number portability could be behind Mr Njoroge’s woes. They indicate that they may have reached out and compromised some board members to wage war against him. So the fight in CCK is more of external partisan stakeholder interests introduced into the commission and causing operational and governance issues. The importance of an independent regulator cannot be over-emphasized. It ensures a level playing ground where no single stakeholder interests are favoured at the expense of other stakeholders. The regulator should be able to make decisions without pressure from any single or group of stakeholders. But regulatory independence can only be achieved if CCK maintains an arms-length relationship with stakeholders including the Government, operators and the consumers, and have the organizational autonomy that allows it to operate within its realms. Looking at the circus last month, I am inclined to believe CCK is yet to achieve that state and our only hope is in the yet to be enacted Independent Communication of Kenya Bill 2010, that it actually provides for a truly independent commission capsuled from all the political and other partisan interests. Lest we forget, the independence of the commission can only be as independent as the people leading it. Harry Hare EDITORIAL DIRECTOR harry.hare@cio.co.ke
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