While waiting for an apt-get update on my machine here to finish, I made the mistake of checking out the Website of the Ministry of Water & Irrigation in Kenya.
Sigh. Pls allow me this short rant.
The (recently relaunched?) website of the MW&I in Kenya provides only very little to no information at all to its visitors. Yeah, sure, there’s this Zimbra e-mail client hidden under a subdomain, but else – what’s the use of having a *new* website if content is missing?
Me thinks: keep it short & simple. What ppl DON’T want to read online are long speeches by this or that honorabool PS or Minister, but instead what they WANT to read and download are guidelines regarding the water policies, how they can interact with the Ministry & it’s offices (WSBs & WRMA) and further links to websites that provide enough detailed information beyond the political blabla NO one is going to read anyways. So how come that this website is just another lost opportunity to show that there are indeed some very smart folks at the MW&I who could provide much better services to the public? Is it because the poor souls who had to redesign the site weren’t provided with enough detailed information?
This just reminds me of the IT discussions on Skunkworks Kenya following the NYT article the other day. It’s like there’s enough potential available but only *those institutions* (like JKUAT) clearly lack enough facilities because the funds went into other pockets… a vicious cycle of incompetence, with those suffering who should be helped building the nation.
I really wish that one day we’ll get rid of those hippos who are blocking real progress in Kenya and elsewhere.
