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24Jul

Uganda is a ripe state for open governance data

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The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) continues to grow in Uganda and presents a number of alternatives in the delivery of services both from the public and private sectors. The country’s technological infrastructure, the legal and policy framework in place, and the increasing demand for transparency and accountability through the use of ICT makes Uganda a ripe state for open governancedata (OGD).
As a result of the research in open government data in Uganda in the context of APC’s Action Research Network, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) developed three reports: the first looks at perceptions of citizens on open governance in the country; the second assesses Uganda’s readiness to open up government data; and the third describes the process developed for the open governance network building in the country.
1: Assessment of citizens’ perceptions of open governance in Uganda
The aim of this study was to capture citizens’ perceptions of open governance in Uganda, with an intention to make prospective opengovernance initiatives in the country responsive to the needs and aspirations of citizens.
The study revealed that there is a high level of knowledge about open governance in Uganda, as well as great expectations of the benefits which OGD would bring to the country. Numerous benefits were mentioned such as raising accountability by duty bearers, minimising corruption, promoting transparency, encouraging citizen participation in governance, monitoring service delivery, and aiding private sector innovation. But, like the state is likely to argue, there were also fears about opening up government data, such as misrepresentations and misinformation, increase in violent demonstrations and strikes as backlash from disgruntled citizens, mutiny in the armed forces, as well the increased administration costs associated with preparing data for open access. These fears need to be managed by both the state and by civil actors advocating open governance in order to convince both citizens and government that OGD is for the good of the country.
This study establishes a key reference point which government should build on to roll out OGD, and which civil society can use in advocating and raising awareness about open governance in Uganda.
Read the full report
2: Open government data readiness study in Uganda
This study assessed Uganda’s readiness to open up government data. It explored three basic tenets with regards to readiness: knowledge, attitudes and practice. In undertaking a study of this nature, it was imperative to appreciate how knowledgeable the key actors were about the subject matter, their attitudes towards the subject matter and current practices.
Besides from assessing the open data readiness in Uganda, this study’s overall objective was also to recommend actions needed for the country to implement OGD and move to the openness levels that countries grouped under the Open Government initiative are working to attain.
Some Ugandan institutions are performing very well as far as making available data and information is concerned. However, there is a need to transcend from the micro that is the smaller units to a national level. This requires having in place structures, systems, infrastructure and the right mindset to converge all government data into a single location. Moreover, this should be supported by appropriate regulations and standards that conform to OGD initiatives.
Interestingly, the study concludes that Uganda is ready to implement OGD with appropriate support and guidance.
Read the full report
3: Open governance network building in Uganda
Between January and April 2012, CIPESA conducted the studies on open governance in Uganda mentioned previously under APC’s Action Research Network. These studies were intended to form the basis of awareness-raising, advocacy and network building activities. The work already done should serve as a springboard for future possible activities to advocate for open governance, to build a network of actors that steadily raise awareness and advocate for open governance and who make use of open government data. The network building should also reinforce advocacy work to make government open up data to the public. This third report registers the process of the open governancenetwork building achieved during the research process in Uganda. It describes the advocacy and awareness raising developed through meetings and interviews with more than 30 individuals, the use of mailing lists and social media to create awareness about open governance, dissemination and advocacy for OGD and network development with identified key organisations.
These documents were developed by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in the context of the Association for Progressive Communications’ Action Research Network, a project supported by the International Development Research Centre of Canada (IDRC).
This article was published by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) News on July 5, 2012

19Jul

Phone tapping: Uganda Govt seeks 200bn

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By Edris Kiggundu
The government is looking for Shs 205bn to purchase equipment and establish systems for the interception of communication and registration of simcards.
This request is contained in the ministerial policy statement for the Office of the Presidency for financial year 2012/2013. The money will be channelled through the Internal Security Organisation, which will work closely with the Office of the President. The statement, tabled before Parliament this week, neither gives details about the nature or type of equipment to be purchased nor a breakdown of how the money will be spent.
All the statement says is that the money will be used to “procure and acquire assorted classified communication equipment.”
The statement says the equipment was supposed to be purchased last year but it was not possible because of financial constraints.
How it works
In July 2010, Parliament passed a bill, seeking to authorise the tapping of telephones and other private communication for security purposes. President Museveni assented to it a couple of months later.  Now law, it provides for interception and monitoring of certain communication in the course of transmission. It also allows the monitoring of postal or any other related service or system.
The law stipulates that only a designated judge issues a warrant of interception if there is reasonable ground to believe that the offence might result into a threat to life. A warrant would also be issued if the judge believes that information to be gathered concerns an actual threat to national security, national economic interest, and/or threat to national interest involving the state’s international relations. A warrant shall be valid for only three months.
Reliable sources in intelligence told us yesterday that at the moment government has limited capacity to tap phones. Government, they added, uses equipment it procured from Libya in the early 1990s.
“What is done is to get a printout from the telecommunication companies whereby they can know that phone number X called Y,” one source told us.
Even then, in most cases, security agencies are not in position to know exactly what X told Y. The new equipment is, therefore, expected to bridge this gap. According to various internet sites, there are a number of ways a telephone conversation can be monitored. For instance, Wikipedia says, one of the parties may record the conversation either on a tape or solid-state recording device, or on a computer running call recording software.
The recording, whether overt or covert, may be started manually, automatically by detecting sound on the line (VOX), or automatically whenever the phone is off the hook. As for mobile phones, especially the 3G type, the same website points out that they are harder to monitor because they use digitally-encoded and compressed transmission.
However, they can be tapped with the cooperation of the phone company, something the government has done before. For instance, in the aftermath of the 2010 July bombings, security agencies working with a major telecom company, were able to track and arrest three suspects – Idris Magondu, 42, Hussein Hassan Agad, 27, and Muhammed Aden Addow, 25 – thanks a phone that had been abandoned at a bar in Makindye.
Using the serial number of the phone, investigators were able to discern records related to calls made or received on the phone. That’s how they got to know that the phone belonged or was at least one time frequently used by Hussein Hassan. The ministerial policy statement notes that regional threats of terrorism have since increased and so has subversion, espionage and politically motivated crime. Therefore, the equipment will help government curtail these vices.
Simon Mulongo, the Bubulo West lawmaker who doubles as Vice Chairman of Parliamentary committee on Internal Affairs, told The Observer that he supported government’s decision to intercept communication provided this was not abused. On the price of the equipment, Mulongo said: “It is something that Parliament will have to crosscheck to establish whether the figure is reasonable.”
This article was published by the The Observer newspaper on July 13, 2012.

19Jul

East African countries put IT spending on back burner

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By Edris Kisambira
Though East Africa as a region has been quick to adopt technology compared to other areas in Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda appear to have de-emphasized ICT in budget plans for the next 12 months.
The money allocated to different sectors by the governments of those nations, and the lack of mention of ICT in the spending blueprints for the coming year, seem to indicate that the countries are either slowing down investments in a sector they regard as key or are postponing further funding.
Uganda’s US$4.8 million ICT sector allocation is the lowest in the past three years, according to an analysis by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA). The budget blueprints were reviewed by finance ministers on June 15. Looking at the Uganda allocation, the funding amounts to only 0.13 percent of projected government expenditures over the next 12 months. Uganda had spent $7.1 million last year and $5.7 million the year before that.
Ugandan Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka said new technology was driving the country’s efforts to give more people access to financial- and business-related services, considering that telecom services like mobile money payments have registered more users today than commercial banks. Kiwanuka said the government, for example, will in the next 12 months establish a one-stop center to provide online registration services for the various licenses required to start a business.
Meanwhile the Rwanda government, taking notable strides in promoting ICT infrastructure investments and enabling usage by citizens in recent years, did not specifically provide for ICT spending for the next 12 months, and no explanation was given.
John Rwangombwa, Rwanda’s finance minister, said in the next 12 months, the government will help enhance operations of the Carnegie Mellon University in the country and the Kigali Techno Pole tech area to boost ICT for private sector development. Speaking in parliament on June 15, Rwangombwa reported completion of work on a number of investments in the past few years, including the national fiber-optic cable backbone, a wireless broadband system for the capital Kigali, a national data center and an embassy intranet.
Kenyan Finance Minister Robinson Njeru Githae did not say a lot in his budget speech as far as the ICT sector goes but allocated some $5.6 million for the purchase of computers for schools and removed import duty on computer software.
Tanzania, which has in the past allocated far less money in comparison to its neighbors, increased duty on mobile telephone airtime, taking it into a league that Uganda has long dominated, where telephone services are taxed steeply.
Tanzanian Finance Minister William Augustao Mgimwa announced a $2.5 million allocation to strengthen ICT “so as to improve access to various services including information, access to domestic and external market, revenue collection, health services, education, financial services, etc.”
Compared to Uganda’s allocation of $4.8 million and Kenya’s $5.6 million, the $2.5 million Tanzania allocated to the sector pales in comparison, given it also has been spending less in the recent past.
Commenting about the cutback in spending on ICT in Uganda, Godfrey Mutabazi, the executive director of industry regulator Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), said, “How do you expect the industry to grow when you are not investing back?”
Ashnah Kalemera, an analyst at CIPESA, said ICT is not a field that most governments in the East African region have great experience or competence in. “But also, ICT is a sector whose full benefit is yet to be fully appreciated by government bureaucrats, as indeed like most members of the public,” Kalemera said. “Its contribution is largely seen as indirect, and there is thus a need to have studies that show direct impacts of ICT on development if regional governments are to be convinced to significantly raise budgetary allocations to ICT.”
East Africa is a leader in adoption of mobile devices and, led by Kenya, in adoption of mobile money. Kenya’s teledensity is 71 percent, while both Tanzania and Uganda have passed the 50 percent mark. Millions across the region routinely use their mobile phones to make financial transactions, which in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda total up to no less than $1.4 billion per month for all the three countries, with Safaricom’s M-Pesa accounting for the bulk of that money.
This article was published by Computer World on July 16, 2012

26Jun

Kasese equipped with the use of ICT tools to share and disseminate information

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As ICT becomes a necessity in our daily activities and operations, it has been approved that it’s quite easy to managed access and share information in our communities simply using ICT tools. Kasese district officials, the members from the civil society and Community members have been fully equipped with ICT skills.
This training which took place on 21st and 22nd June 2012 at the E-Society Resource Centre located at Kasese District Head Quarters was done by officials from The Collaboration for ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA).
CIPESA is one of the partners of the E-Society Resource Centre Kasese which voluntarily came in to support the centre in addition to what Ric-Net had offered. The training was facilitated by Ms. Lillian Nalwoga from CIPESA assisted by Mr. Jack Sseruwo from CIPESA and Edgar Asiimwe Napolean from SPIDER. The attendance and participation was good and everybody who attended at least was able to create personal weblogs, twitter accounts and had a full understanding of how to use other social networks like face book and Skype to promote citizen participation in governance issues. The training was launched by the assistant LCV Chairperson Hon. Muhindo Tadeo who greatly thanked the management of CIPESA for the partnership and pointed out that he is an ICT compliant who uses a lot of social networking to carry out his activities. The training revealed that in the near future, the world will be required to use much of social media like face book, twitter, weblogs, Skype, Google+ and so many others as innovations go on. A great thanks goes to the District Information Office for organizing the training to enhance civic competence.
This article was published by Kasese District News on June 23, 2012.

21Jun

East African ICT Budget Allocations and Priorities for 2012/2013

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Information and Communication Technology, a sector recognised as crucial to social and economic development by the East African Community (EAC), received meagre budget allocations for 2012/2013 in most of the regional grouping’s five member countries – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
East Africa is a leader in adoption of mobiles, and, led by Kenya, in adoption of mobile money and a string of technological innovations. The figures allocated by the different states, and the (non)-mentions of the ICT sectors in the spending blueprints for the coming year, seem to indicate that most EAC governments have surrendered the role of developing the ICT sector to private players – if they ever quite had the baton.
The Rwanda government, taking notable strides in promoting ICT infrastructure investments and enabling usage by citizens, put no figure to the sector’s portion of its US$ 2.32 billion budget. Uganda’s US$ 6.4 million ICT sector allocation is the highest in the last three years but represents a mere 0.13% of the budget.
Among the priorities for Kenya’s more than US $17 billion budget were implementing the new public sector reforms and the country’s new (2010) constitution, and funding the upcoming general elections. But it still made, by regional standards, a far larger allocation to ICT.
Tanzania, one of the region’s top misers as far as allocation to the ICT sector is concerned, increased duty on mobile telephone airtime, taking it to a league Uganda has for long dominated, where telephone services are taxed steeply.
In this June 2012 briefing paper, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) takes a peek into the East African ICT budget allocations and priorities for 2012/2013.
Read the full brief here.

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