the way I see it... Kenya will never be able to procure anything....

the way I see it... Kenya will never be able to procure anything.... too much siasa. if a local company is picked siasa... we just want big names here. Who cares if it is hackable? it's mere presence will stop lots and lots of petty crimes but we would rather protect 'public' funds and cry when we are attacked - when asked for solutions we shout - ensure that security is headed by the right person... kwani ni Ole Lenku's replacement atafanya kazi ya makarao hao wote wa D? When solutions are prescribed we fight them.... Kenya will never be able to procure anything from Kenyans because of siasa.
People need to understand one thing - THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MAKING MONEY!! YOU DON'T SUPPLY GAVA SO THAT YOU JUST BREAK EVEN! considering the length of time it takes them to pay for stuff (IEBC bado haijalipa watu wa elections) there is a problem when people in GAVA make money off kandarasis but there is no problem with picking a Local implementer even if a cheaper one is available out there. We quote US or UK like they are our peers!! you guys have an economy less than the enconomy of Wyoming the 2nd last state in the US and you still compare yourselves to them? SERIOUSLY!! MTU WA KIBERA ANASEMA HATAKI TOYOTA BECAUSE WATU WA RUNDA WANAENDESHA BMW? Bure Kabisa Mafi ya Kuku

The US have been accused of worldwide phone-tapping, are they really any better than the Chinese....

Reading Tuesday's star article by Timothy Kiberia: Magic Bullet:Is Safaricom Cover for China's Huawei?
Picked out the following;

Kshs. 15 B for 1,800 cameras translates to approx. Kshs. 8,333,333 or $ 95,000 per camera.

Instant online quotation from Cisco, The World's number one supplier and installer of CCTV surveillance cameras and networks reveals a significantly lower cost.

The cost of the equipment and installation of the network in areas that already have their own fibre optic cables averages btwn. $ 5,000 and $8,000 per camera.

To illustrate this further, one needs to look at the City of Leicester in the Uk, which recently installed 2,083 cameras at a cost of £ 14 million or Kshs. 2.1 billion. Leicester got almost 300 more cameras and spent seven times less than what Kenya intends to spend.

Not forgetting that in August 2010, Safaricom selected Hauwei a its vendor of choice for the supply of its core network requirements and roll out of the 4G Network.

Huawei, like all other leading Chinese telecommunication companies, is linked directly to the Chinese military. In essence the 'Safaricom' contract means we are outsourcing our surveillance and intelligence to the Chinese government.

President UK describes this project as the magic bullet. Unfortunately there is no magic bullet here; Hauwei/ Chinese network equipment comes with the Magic Kill Packet that allows back-door penetration by the supplier- in this case the Chinese military. This in simple language exposes our critical national security infrastructure to the Chinese military.

It is this connection with the Chinese military and easily attack-able network that led to Hauwei being barred from the North American, Australian and most of Western Europe Market.

I agree the whole deal is fishy, I think the money could have been spent in other areas of security;
lakini if you look at the city of leicester one will notice a big infrastructure difference with the city of Nairobi, plus it does not matter where you source the technology one government or the other will have access to the same, its a matter of the east or the west having access.