Kenya has introduced the ICT Authority Bill 2024, a re-branded version of the previously controversial ICT Practitioners Bill. The contentious ICT Authority Bill 2024 was silently tabled in Parliament during a sleepy session on May 9. If the Bill is enacted into law those working as information, communication, and technology (ICT) professionals will now be required to obtain operational licenses for the services they provide.

The Bill proposed by the former Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of ICT and Digital Economy, Eliud Owalo, intends to formally regulate the country’s ICT sector and ensure compliance with national laws and regulations. “A person who intends to provide ICT services shall apply to the Authority for accreditation in a prescribed manner and upon payment of the required fee,” he said, stating that the Bill intends to simplify the incorporation of ICT in the process of public service delivery to improve accessibility, efficiency, and inclusivity in the ICT sector.

The Bill requires ICT operators to obtain an operational license and assigns accreditation categories based on experience and technical skills. This tiered system could potentially benefit smaller operators by requiring less stringent qualifications for basic services. Operators who fail to get accredited, under the Bill, will pay fines of up to Sh5.07 million ($39,000) or/and face up to five years in prison.

Technical qualifications

Furthermore, the Bill allows the ICT Authority to categorise accreditation based on an applicant’s experience, technical qualifications, and skills.

“The Authority may assign categories of accreditation as it determines, ensuring applicants meet the minimum technical qualifications and skills required for the class of contract works for which registration is sought,” explained Owalo.

Kenya’s new move mirrors Nigeria’s vaguely conscripted rule to regulate ICT professionals in the country. Why does it matter? While the ICT operator license aims to guarantee secure and high-quality ICT services in the country, its introduction could significantly impact the cost of doing business for ICT operators in Kenya, potentially leading to increased costs for consumers.

This, in turn, could stifle the growth of the digital economy and limit access to technology for some Kenyans. Is Kenya’s failed ICT Bill resurfacing? Since 2016, Kenyan legislators have been proposing a controversial ICT Practitioners Bill which would require ICT professionals in the country—tech bros—with three years of experience to get licensed or pay notable fines.

The Bill resurfaced again in 2022 and passed all its readings until then President Uhuru Kenya rejected it the bill. Now, two years later, it appears the ICT Practitioners Bill has now morphed into the “ICT Authority Bill”. Will this elusive, new proposal get anywhere this time around? It’s arguable that the new bill is even harsher than the old one. With the imposition of the 1.5 per cent digital tax in the Finance Bill 2024, the new Bill’s fines are 10x.

A keen observation indicates that the academia and research field is one of the most highly regulated and restrictive in the world, yet the country have one of the lowest research outputs per capita of any middle-income country.

The country must move beyond the misguided notion that bureaucracy solves most problems rather than the reality that it causes many problems. So far, the Bill does not elaborate what constitutes a legal ICT practitioner. For a dynamic field like ICT that can rapidly be taken up by individuals not trained in a formal setting, there are concerns that if the Bill passes, the sector could remain stunted.

“A license may be useful to enforce ethical and security standards for related practice but it presents more problems than it solves. First, it will be a glass ceiling for young talent, IT geeks in college may be denied chances to try it out in the world of practice.

Secondly, IT professionals have very many fields of practice and are quite fluid, say from databases to networking to programming, needless to say how all are quite dynamic and as such, these licenses will impede keeping up with changes.

With strategic planning, responsible regulations, guidelines and investments, Kenya will position itself as a potential African digital economy and ICT powerhouse. If the Bill becomes a law, the true winners will be our neighbors in Uganda and Tanzania who undoubtedly are looking forward to tap and welcome the Kenyan Silicon Savannah technology firms, talent and steer digital and ICT adoption in Africa.

– The writer is a Data Scientist