NAIROBI: A report by a Kenya-based Telecoms Infrastructure Limited revealed that only 43 percent of cables laid in the first phase of the National Backbone infrastructure cable deal were protected from damage and 122 connection points out of 299 that were scheduled for phase two of the cable deal were safe. Paula Turyahikayo, Chairperson of the ICT Parliamentary Committee said that as a result of that the government might be forced to re-invest into the project to have the deal functional. “As we move to plan for the third and fourth phase of the project, phase one is in such a sorry state, in fact all contractors of this phase must be ‘blacklisted'.” She further explained that poor workmanship and the lack of supervision are to blame for the poor work in the first phase. This was strongly rejected by James Saaka, Executive Director at NITA-U where he stated that NITA are not to be blamed for poor work as the government at that point in time did not have a body to oversee the project. “Whereas the project set off in 2006, the ICT ministry established NITA-U in 2008 to supervise the work. The entire first phase that kicked off in 2006 until 2007 was run without a supervisor which explains the poor work.”
