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MALITI: As an ICT hub, we deserve a better website

By TOM MALITI February 4th, 2014 1 min read

If you wanted to find out information about Nairobi County, an obvious place to do so would be the county government’s website (www.nairobi.go.ke).

You will be disappointed.

Let us say you want to learn more about the history of Nairobi. On the website, that history ends in 1950.

Is this an official denial of the achievements and failures of the about a dozen or so mayors of Nairobi and several city commissions since 1963  or is someone simply being sloppy?

Perhaps you want to reacquaint yourself with the governor’s manifesto to assess what he has done so far against what he said he would do. No chance there. His inaugural speech is available but not his detailed platform for election.

You may be of the view that the governor does not do everything and that is why he has an executive committee responsible for various portfolios.

So you set out to learn what the members of the county executive are up to.

On the website you will find their profiles, an outline of their respective mandates but nothing else. One hopes that these good women and men of Nairobi are not idle.

Most of the information I have referred to above is basic. I have not even talked about whether one can download, say the draft master plan of the city (the answer is no) or other important documents.

The county government has been at work for several months so the excuse of teething problems does not apply.

Nairobi should be doing much  more. The county is, after all, Kenya’s ICT hub. County Hall needs to jealously guard that status.

A much better thought out county government website would be a good start.