Promoting Effective and Inclusive ICT Policy in Africa

Blog

  HomeCollaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)  /  Blog
27Jul

ICT for Democracy in East Africa: May 2012 News

Author admin Posted on

Building capacity in monitoring services delivery and governance in Northern Uganda
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in May undertook a small survey on the knowledge, attitudes, and needs of citizens regarding the utility, effectiveness, and security of using ICT for democracy in Uganda’s northern region. The survey involved individually administered questionnaires in Gulu town.
In addition, at the Gulu-based Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC), journalists, CSOs, local government officials and students participated in a CIPESA-organised discussion on how best ICT could be used to foster citizen participation given the economic, literacy, and other challenges faced by the region. The workshop participants deemed civic participation to be of more importance relative to political participation, as it often resulted into direct and tangible impacts on community livelihoods. Using CIPESA’s recently published report, the event also involved a practical exploration of how ICT tools could promote civic participation. One of the outcomes of the activities undertaken with NUMEC was a mapping of priorities and possibilities for engaging with particular ICT tools in selected service sectors.
NUMEC is one of the grassroots based centres involved in the iParticipate project. CIPESA has provided to the centre desktop computers, a digital camera and monetary contribution toward its internet connectivity.
Meanwhile, Transparency International Uganda field office in Lira district, unearthed uncoordinated health workers and support staff transfers at five health centres. The transfers were adversely affecting the performance of the already strained health centre staff. In follow up discussions, district health officials explained that the transfers were necessary in order to staff newly created health centres elsewhere. The officials acknowledged that the transfers were done without consultations with the affected health centres.
Table 1: Lira district health worker’s transfers (Source: Health Centre transfer records)

Health Centre Post Replacement

Amach health center IV

 2 Nursing assistants

NONE
1 Enrolled Nurse
1 Porter
1 Watchman

Barr Health Center III

 1 Nursing Assistant
1 Porter
1 Watchman

Aromo Health Center III

 1 Watchman
2 Enrolled Nurses

Ogur Health Center IV

 1 Enrolled Nurse
1 Nursing Assistant
1 Porter
1 Watchman

TI Uganda also unearthed cases of staff who absconded from duty and those who were drawing double salaries. The matter has been taken up with district health authorities.
The community is also being urged to monitor health centres to ensure efficient and effective service delivery. To this end, the installation of TI Uganda’s toll free call centre for reporting poor health service delivery in Northern Uganda is now complete. 0800 200 188 is being widely advertised in the region to inform and encourage the community to report health centre challenges.
Meanwhile, May’s Voluntary Social Accountability Committees (VSAC) meetings spearheaded by the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) to report on governance and service delivery in five districts in Northern Uganda were complemented by radio programs. The Committee from Tarogali reported cases of Village Health Teams (VHT) being charged to receive bicycles which were actually provided free of charge by the Ministry of Health. Officials in Ibuje Sub County allegedly demanded UGX 70,000 (US$28) for each bicycle intended to ease the work of the health teams. The matter was debated on the local Radio Apac, leading to intervention by the Apac Anti-Corruption Coalition. The responsible officials were arrested, and the bicycles have since then been distributed free of charge to the targeted beneficiaries.
Besides, WOUGNET uploaded more content on their Ushahidi platform. Amongst the reports, drug shortages in Kole health centres, a security official who was extorting money from members of Chegere sub-county in Apac district, and a broken down bore hole in Alenga cell, Ibuje sub-county.
mGovernance and water in Kenya
iHub Research conducted in-depth analysis of data on Huduma, a web and mobile phone based platform for Kenyan citizens to voice the difficulties they encounter in using public services. Based on the results, the research team selected a thematic focus for the remainder of the mGovernance in Kenya project – governance in the Kenyan water sector. Preparations are underway for a workshop to bring together different water stakeholders in a single platform to discuss water issues and how to interact with each other in the chain of governance structure. The aim of the workshop is to evaluate the current feedback loop between stakeholders and the potential of technology, especially mobile, to enhance the Kenyan water sector.
ICT in human rights and democracy
In Tanzania, preparations are underway for a publicity campaign incorporating social media for the SMS for Human Rights System. The Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) is still in talks with the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority and leading telcos for short code sms provision and toll free services, respectively.
Meanwhile, 10 grassroots Human Rights Networks (HURINETs) in Kenya this month received equipment from the Kenya Human Rights Networks (KHRC). The equipment, including computers, portable internet modems and digital cameras is aimed at enabling the HURINETs use new media in human rights and democracy monitoring and reporting human rights violations. The work of the HURINETs will feed into KHRC’s civic action website.
Events
May 9 – 11, 2012: iHub research participated in the IST Africa Conference. Conference insights are shared by in two blog posts here and here
May 31, 2012: CIPESA participated in the Uganda National Civil Society fair and shared reports and work done in the democracy and governance session. The fair is an annual event organised by the National NGO Forum showcasing the contributions of different civil society actors to Uganda’s socio‐economic development and political growth.
June 26 – 29: In collaboration with the African Human Rights Consortium, KHRC is due to host the East African Region New Media and Human Rights Institute workshop.
This article was published on June 21, 2012, about the ICT4Democracy in East Africa project, which brings together various partners in the region – among them CIPESA.
For more information, visit www.ict4democracy.org

27Jul

mGovernance Workshop: Potential of Technology on Water Governance in Kenya

Author admin Posted on

On July 5, 2012, iHub Research hosted a workshop aimed at engaging different stakeholders in Kenya’s water sector to identify and discuss current interactions between the stakeholders, understand how transparency, service delivery and citizen participation are currently being applied in the sector and identify the potential of mobile applications/platforms in promoting sustainable urban and rural water development.
Workshop participants were drawn from the government, the tech community, civil society, residents of various areas including the Kibera slums, media, academia and NGOs.
Water governance is the thematic focus of the mGovernance in Kenya Project.
Full insights from the workshop are available here. In addition, the report on technology use in Kenya’s water sector is also available for download here.
This article was published on July 24, 2012, about the ICT4Democracy in East Africa project, which brings together various partners in the region – among them CIPESA.

24Jul

Uganda is a ripe state for open governance data

Author admin Posted on

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

Author admin Posted on

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

Author admin Posted on

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

1 … 176 177 178 179 180 … 190