ICT Board should have guidelines on conflict of interest

Peter Kimacia’s resignation from the Kenya ICT board received mixed comments from the ICT industry players. Some felt that it was a bold decision while others wondered why he took the job in the first place.
 
Issues of conflict of interest contributed to the resignation. Kimacia runs his own private sector led Digital Villages Network while he sat in the board of the government led initiative.
 
Whether there was any conflict of interest or Kimacia would have diverted part of the resources- knowledge or otherwise to his outfit is debatable.
 
The problem in the whole controversy was that the appointing authorities did not set out rules on what members of the board can or cannot do. If the guidelines stipulated that a member of the board is not allowed to engage in competing activities, then it would have been understood well.
 
Why appoint somebody, you know the activities he is involved on, then half way or quarter way, it is discovered that there could be conflict of interest. Why is it an issue now? Why did it not arise earlier, yet we all knew Kimacia was working on his version of Digital villages.
 
I recall discussing with a friend about Kimacia’s appointment to the board, and I was told that even the other people in the board represented various interests.
 
So, will other members of the board who could be eying a chance to benefit friends and business associates resign? There is no doubt that the project will need content in various fields like e-learning and e-agriculture.
 
Does the board have guidelines to safeguard corruption and favoritism?
 
Ends