Kenya has just changed... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Alex Gakuru <gakuru@gmail.com> Date: Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 7:23 PM Subject: [ke-internetusers] SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA HON. MWAI KIBAKI, CGH, MP, DURING THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE EAST AFRICAN MARINE SYSTEMS CABLE (TEAMS) ON 12TH JUNE 2009 IN MOMBASA. To: ke-users <ke-internetusers@bdix.net> Cc: Erik Hersman <erik@zungu.com> Folks, Mkanda umefika pwani yetu!! Ndugu zanguni, wacha tukague hii speech ya mzee kwanza, halafu tujadiliane kesho.. asanteni sana... thank you all, ---- SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA HON. MWAI KIBAKI, CGH, MP, DURING THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE EAST AFRICAN MARINE SYSTEMS CABLE (TEAMS) ON 12TH JUNE 2009 IN MOMBASA. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am gratified to be with you today at an event of truly historic proportions. The landing of this fibre-optic undersea cable project in Mombasa is one of the landmark projects in Kenya’s national development story. Indeed some have compared this to the completion of the Kenya-Uganda railway more than a century ago. This comparison is not far-fetched, because while the economies of the last century were driven by railway connections, the economies of today are largely driven by internet and other I.C.T. connections. The East African Marine Systems project is an innovative public-private partnership between the Government of Kenya and corporate stakeholders. The project has connected our country with the rest of the world and harnessed the power of Information Communication Technologies. This is a great enabler for growth, and development of our country. The arrival of this cable in the penultimate year of the first decade of the 21st Century signals the beginning of a new beginning in the telecommunications sector, particularly data services, in our country and the region. Until now, the Eastern Africa coast was the longest coastline in the world without a fibre-optic cable connection to the rest of the world. This project comes with many attractive benefits. The TEAMS project marks a crucial turning point in our efforts to bridge the Digital Divide. It will empower Kenyans and other East Africans to become fully digital citizens of the 21st Century. It redefines modernity and efficiency and is a big step in the delivery of quality service in the I.C.T. sector. I am confident that the people of our region, especially the youth, will be the first to rush to savour the joys and high resolution qualities of the fastest Internet connections that will be offered by the undersea cable project. The TEAMS project will be a great boost to the worlds of learning, work and play. I.C.T. serves all generations. Those of the older generation will recall that the world rocked by the first global economic meltdown, the Great Depression of 1929 that lasted deep into the 1930’s was soon followed by the World War that started in 1939. Today we are witnessing the global recession that began with the American sub-prime mortgage and banking crisis of last year. But there is a crucial difference this time round: the prevailing worldwide recessionary conditions are the first such downturn to happen in the age of I.C.T. As such, I believe that a world equipped with I.C.T. and interconnected by fibre-optic cables has much better disaster preparedness and turnaround capabilities than the world of the 1930’s. Thanks to I.C.T. the world now is truly a global village with better communication and now better informed. I am confident that timely solutions to the ongoing economic crisis will be found using the crucial tools of I.C.T.. Future downturns will be easier to foresee, contain and overcome, in good time. With the TEAMS project, Kenya and the Eastern Africa region are finally joining what the American author Thomas Friedman called a flattened world in his bestselling book “The World is Flat. In his book he analyses the convergence of technology and events that saw China and India become global centres of the supply chain for services and manufacturing. Mr Friedman explains how a seamlessly interconnected world is making a positive impact on nations, companies, communities and individuals. In addition to the marine installation that we are celebrating here today, the next step is the full completion of the construction of land-based infrastructure. This will make I.C.T. the main pillar of our national economic blueprint for the new millennium, VISION TWENTY THIRTY. The opportunities that are about to be opened up by the TEAMS project are tremendous. Readily accessible bandwidth will not only lower telecommunications costs but also provide new opportunities practically in all sectors. The concept of a working nation will translate into a much stronger economy befitting this millennium. To address these challenges, I am directing the Ministry of Information and Communication to come up with programmes for the training and development of youth nationwide, to catch the first generation of truly digital Kenyans. Similarly, I direct all the Ministries to speedily adopt I.C.T. in their strategic plans in order to realise the full benefits of technology, for the good of our country. Ladies and Gentlemen, Affordable telecommunications technologies and infrastructure are critical to our nation’s development. The phenomenon of business process outsourcing which is a mainstay of the I.C.T. sector, is something that the Government wishes to see take hold in Kenya as soon as possible. Under business process outsourcing, engineering and scientific research, computer programming, accounting and telemarketing, the new global enterprise, can be based anywhere in the world. This is what a knowledge-based society is about. And it is possible because I.C.T. enables you to deliver services and products anywhere in the world. I.C.T. therefore is a necessity that we must embrace as it helps Kenya to move with the changing times in a rapidly evolving world. With the launch of this project Kenya is now equipped with one of the most advanced and cost effective, nation-building tools. With these remarks it is now my pleasure to officially launch the East African Marine Systems Cable. _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers@bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers