Copac Hires Kenya Computer Expert

The move comes in the wake of allegations of too much interference by political parties involved in the process.
 
“ The committee has engaged an expert to make sure that technical
errors that have occurred are corrected,” Douglas Mwonzora the
committee’s co-chairperson told Radio Vop.
“He is an undisputed expert who was in charge of the data processing during Kenya’s constitution making process.”
The expert whose costs will be met by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is expected to arrive in the country next week to take charge of the process.

He has specialised in the use of Hewlett-Packard computers that are being used by the committee to store information submitted by the people during the outreach exercises.
The UNDP is funding the constitution making process together with many other donors but so far it remains the main funding partner and has since made a commitment to do so until the completion of this important exercise.
Meanwhile the committee has moved to ally fears caused by reports of information tampering in the country’s constitution making process. This after Zanu (PF) officials had claimed through suggestions in the state media that the mainstream MDC party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai might have tempered with information that has already been
stored in the committee’s main information server.

Paul Mangwana, the committee’s co-chairperson representing Zanu (PF) this week briefed his party on the disappearing of information
on issues of land, natural resources and the environment.
These are the issues that Zanu (PF) strongly campaigned for during the public outreach meetings.
Its officials immediately raised the red flag pointing fingers at MDC officials saying they could have been responsible for the removal of the information. However the Committee told journalists Friday that “no data had gone missing.”

“All the data collected was verified through a tri-partite
verification process. There were just certain technical problems in
uploading information with the server,” said Douglas Mwonzora one of the three co-chairpersons of the committee.
“There are three technical experts representing the three political
parties and they all confirmed there was a technical era in the
posting of information in the giant server and we have no cause to
disbelieve them.”

In addition the spokesperson of the Committee, Jesse Majome said,
“It’s totally impossible for information to disappear because it was
collected in various forms – physical and electronic forms such as
video and audio.”
The constitution making process is a key aspect of an election roadmap currently being drafted by SADC appointed facilitator President Jacob Zuma of South Africa. Other requirements of the roadmap includes the drawing up of a new voters’ roll, ending political violence and passing of new electoral rules by Parliament however none of these are in place.