Miss Geek contest can be made better

Editor, REFERENCE IS made to the article, “I want to empower farmers using ICT solutions - Ms Geek Rwanda” (The New Times, March 13). It’s good and commendable that she (Nancy Sibo) came up with an idea that could change lives in the countryside, but that “I want to” word must be dropped if we really need to go forward. I am not among the organisers, but I think that it would have been better to be allowed to participate in the contest after achieving something - even little - instead of promising that you’ll do this and that. Rwanda is running faster to aggressively achieve its goals, and blank promises are not an option. I don’t mean that she won’t build the app, but I expect her to be sitting in front of her computer coding. That’s how we will turn Rwanda into the ICT Hub of Africa. We got to think of a good project like the one by Nancy Sibo and then do everything possible to make it a reality. Organisers of Miss Geek Rwanda should follow up on this. We need Mobile Cow to become reality and to bring a different, admired image of Rwanda on the international arena. The train is running so fast and we got to catch and go with it. No excuses, no words, just deeds. We are waiting for Ms Sibo to release the programme, and we’ll evaluate her once the right time comes. According to the resolutions of the 11th National Leadership Retreat, this year is different. This is the year of accountability and running fast; it’s not year of stalled and ghost projects. We rely on developers to make Rwanda feel like it’s no longer a landlocked country, but a country of homegrown solutions such as Mobile Cow and others. But what’s important is “doing it right now”. By and large, that this was the first time the contest is organized, it is worth commending and we hope next time it will be even better. Mutara Intore, Rwanda

Opinions

Miss Geek contest can be made better