ICT regulator Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has urged parents and other guardians to be on the look out on the content their children consumer online, especially during the ongoing long holidays.
The call was made by CA’s Mr. Gituku, at a consumer outreach Kikao Kikuu in Embu county, as he also noted that there is a sharp increase in the number of cyber threats and in the country. Incidences have more than doubled from 11.3million in the quarter ending in March 30 to 26.6 million between April 1 to June 30 this year and this is certainly a course for alarm.
ICT is good but it can also be misused unfortunately. Parents and guardians have been urged to be keen on what digital content their children are consuming especially during these long holidays @jumaf3 @David_Indeje @ngenegituku #KikaoKikuu #LandofOpportunities pic.twitter.com/ixParCBY3J
— FemmeHub (@FemmeHub) November 28, 2019
“It is not enough to purchase smartphones and other devices and leave children on their own without providing the required guidance and controls,” the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Board Chair, Mr. Ngene Gituku, said. He urged parents and guardians to take advantage of the numerous online and physical child protection materials that the authority provides and make use of them to keep up with their children and keep them safe.
At the same Embu forum which was running under the banner Land Of Opportunities, the CA Acting Director General Mrs. Mercy Wanjau noted that Embu County residents enjoy good 2G and 3G mobile connectivity, with a respective population coverage of 99.8% and 88.2%. This is actually quite impressive and the Governor of Embu Hon Martin Wambora promised to work very closely with CA to improve all matters communication so that residents have even more to work with as they unleash the massive potential that the county has. The Governor acknowledged that ICT services have already provided opportunities to the locals and so what his Government wants to do in partnership with CA is to improve on existing infrastructure.
“We are proud that that the availability of ICT services is enriching the lives of our people in many profound ways. The Internet, for instance, has provided numerous opportunities for our people to acquire knowledge and to improve their lot. We see various sectors of the local economy, including agriculture, Small and Medium Enterprises, and health heavily relying on ICTs for growth,” added Mr. Wambora.
The acting Director General said CA had connected 14 public secondary schools in Embu with high-speed Internet through the Universal Service Fund.
“Just a week ago, we launched the voice infrastructure project through which we have connected 68 sub-locations to mobile communications services across the country. This initiative has seen about 290,000 people who until recently only dreamt of making a call through the mobile phone, enjoy basic voice and data services.
