Today marked the official unveiling of the newest CEO in town Mr. Francis Wangusi, the re-appointed Director General of the Communications Authority of Kenya. Mr. Wangusi was appointed by the Board of the Communications Authority of Kenya as the director General for a term of four (4) years effective 22nd August, 2015.
The appointment was equally competitive with about 29 applications and 6 shortlisted individuals who among them was Mr. Wangusi. Out of the 6 shortlisted candidates, the board of communications Authority of Kenya singled out on two candidates where Mr. Wangusi stood out as most eligible.
The new recruitment for the position was necessitated by the Kenya Information and Communications Act, 1998, as amended in 2013, that required the post of Director General to be filled competitively. The Board advertised for position in April and re-advertised in May, 2015.
Mr. Wangusi has over 27 years of experience in the communications industry. Before being appointed as Director General, he had previously served as Director in the departments of Broadcasting and Licensing Compliance & Standards respectively in the organization. Prior to joining the Authority, he had served as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Telecommunication Engineering at the Multimedia University College of Kenya.
During his tenure at the helm of Kenya’s ICT regulatory body over the last three years, Mr Wangusi is credited with leading the process of transformation of the regulator into an independent Authority; facilitating the growth of ICT industry, making ICT assume an increasingly strategic role in the growth of the country’s economy and a major contributor to the country’s GDP. It is during Mr. Wangusi’s tenure that Kenya’s telecommunications market grew to be rated the 3rd largest in Africa. In the same period Kenya was rated 2nd best among African countries on internet usage.
Mr. Wangusi is recently credited for spearheading Kenya’s switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting platform.
What next for Wangusi?
In his new tenure, Mr. Wangusi has cited on the importance to stabilize the market in the communication sector which ranges from telecommunication companies to broadcasters. The director general mentioned the use of ICT tourism to restore the current situation in the country and in the same breathe collaborate with government offices to integrate ICT in services.
Mr Wangusi however capitalized on market dominance that has been an issue in the telecommunications sector. According to The Kenya Information and Communications Act section 84W a company is declared dominant if their market share is at least 50 per cent of the relevant gross market segment.
The communication Authority therefore has the power to declare a service provider dominant. Airtel has been pushing to have Safaricom declared dominant to have the company operate in a more restricted business environment in terms of marketing, pricing and in an extreme scenario, be required to split the business into separate and independent units. Airtel has since made a submission to CA demanding that it invokes the same power and declare Safaricom dominant.
Mr. Wangusi therefore assured the parties of strict regulations roll out to control the market. Broadcasters will soon have dominant markets announced after a survey by the Communications Authority later this year. The broadcaster with widest reach and audience in this case will have to operate under special regulations provided by the Communications Authority.
Mr Wangusi currently hosting a cybersecurity forum for the COMESA fraternity has also promised to fight Cyber Crime in Kenya in all means to avoid potential erode in all gains the country has made in ICTs over the years.
