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23Nov

Reflecting on ICT for Democratic Engagement in Uganda’s Rwenzori Region

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By Ashnah Kalemera |
In the Rwenzori sub-region of western Uganda, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools have been key tools in promoting public accountability and improved service delivery. Through an ICT “convergence approach” that combines SMS, radio and online polling, Toro Development Network (ToroDev) has for the past five years promoted information and knowledge sharing for citizens’ engagement with their leaders on priority service delivery needs and concerns in the region.
ToroDev’s project, which is part of the ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network, has empowered local citizens in offline and online advocacy and engagement with duty bearers, trained radio journalists in reporting and promoting debate on accountability issues, facilitated quarterly accountability meetings between citizens and leaders, and supported the initiation of 15 civic groups in the region. The civic groups, also known as rural advocacy forums, consist of 80 members each, and are involved in citizen journalism and community mobilisation for the radio debates and accountability meetings.
Over the years, the project has seen increased levels of citizen participation and engagement. In 2014, each monthly advocacy forum meeting was attended by at least 50 members. Outcomes from the monthly meetings are discussed on radio talk shows. Meanwhile, 60 leaders at sub-county and parliamentary level participated in the deliberations and jointly with citizens drew up action plans, among them, the State Minister for Finance.

In western Uganda’s Rwenzori region, citizens’ participation on radio talk shows on governance issues through SMS, call ins, and social media grew from 304 in June 2014 to 4,835 by Nov 2014. See ICT4Democracy in East Africa Annual Review 2014.

Citizens have also gone on to leverage social media to engage in discussions on governance and service delivery. See for instance State of Service Delivery in Rwenzori Region, Orukurato, Rwenzori Journalists Forum and Listeners’ Forum Facebook with active membership pages.
However, at a national level participation of citizen in public affairs remains low. During the 2011 presidential elections, only 59% of registered voters cast their ballot. According to the 2013 Uganda National Household Survey, only 7% of households have a member that participates in governance at the local level, down from 10% in 2010.
The 2013 survey estimates that household participation in local governance in Western Uganda stands at 8.1% and the region boasts the highest proportion of citizens registered as voters (89%).
In the run up to the 2016 national elections, ToroDev convened regional stakeholders at a conference to reflect on the role of ICT in the electioneering processes. Uganda will hold local, parliamentary, and presidential elections in February 2016.
Speaking at the conference, Dr. Paschal Kabura, the director of Uganda Martyrs University Fort Portal campus, urged local citizens to take interest in staying informed of regional concerns that directly affect their livelihoods. “Voter apathy must be overcome,” he said, while calling for more active citizen participation in local governance processes through the use of ICT.
Discussions at the conference also included mainstreaming gender in governance processes. Goretti Amuriat from the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) highlighted the need for building women’s capacity to participate in advocacy and accountability engagements, and for promoting awareness of gender issues at community level. She also stressed the need to consider women’s special needs such as child care facilities at local government consultation meetings, and suitable timing and conducive locations of accountability forums for both women and men.
Amuriat urged workshop participants to fight “biased cultural attitudes” in the region such as only men being leaders, what a man says being “right and final” and women being undermined due to their domestic responsibilities. She said it was important for women to realise that such attitudes “are not biological but socially constructed.”
The conference provided a platform for feedback and knowledge sharing on the performance of existing rural advocacy forums and the potential for establishing forums consisting of local government officials and civil society organisations at district level.
“As a result of the work of advocacy forums we have seen water put in place for example in Mugusu and Katebwa sub-counties in Kabarole district, two class room blocks have been put in place in Bufunjo Seed school in Kyenjojo district, roads [have been] improved in Kichwamba, Rwebisengo and Ntoroko District,” said Tumwesigye Andrew, the leader of Bufunjo Forum in Kyenjojo District, during the panel discussion on the performance of advocacy forums. “We have improved staff in health centres in Bufunjo, improved accountability and improved participation of women in budgetary processes and meetings,” he added.
The conference, which was held on November 19, and 20, 2015 drew more than 80 stakeholders from the districts of Kabarole, Kyegegwa, Kyenjojo, Kasese, Kamwenge, Bundibugyo and Ntoroko. They included district planners, radio, print and TV journalists, civil society organisations, religious leaders, advocacy forum members, youth leaders, district information officers and other local government officials.
The ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network is a regional coalition of civil society organisations leveraging ICT to promote civic participation, human rights and democracy in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Coordinated by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), it was established in 2011 with seed funding from the Swedish Programme for ICT in Developing Regions (Spider) and is currently supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
 

02Oct

Uganda Marks Decade of Access to Information Law

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By Esther Nakkazi |
On September 28, 2015, the International Right to Know Day  was commemorated in Uganda at an event that also marked the 10th Anniversary of the enactment of the country’s Access to Information Act (ATIA).
During the celebrations held alongside the 2015 Forum on Internet Freedom in East Africa, stakeholders discussed experiences, lessons and challenges relating to ATIA, which was passed in 2005. The event also served as the launch of the 2015 report on the State of the Right to Information in Africa.
The celebrations were hosted by the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) and the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) together with the Ministry of Information and National Guidance (MING) in the- Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
Uganda was the first country in East Africa to adopt an access to information law. It was followed by Rwanda in 2013, making the two land-locked nations the only ones among the five member states of the East African Community (EAC) with access to information laws.
Implementation of the ATIA in Uganda has been slow, partly because  regulations to give effect to the law were passed in 2011, six years after the Act was enacted.
Proactive release of information remains low to-date, while the culture of secrecy and fear of reprisal remains prevalent. According to Gilbert Sendugwa, the Executive Director of  AFIC, “many Ugandans still do not understand what it means to have the Access to Information Act”. Sendugwa added that building awareness and demand for information among citizens as well as  creating responsiveness from public agencies, were required in order to improve implementation of the ATIA.
Silvia Birahwa from the Directorate of Information and National Guidance noted that as a result of the delay in passing ATIA’s regulations, there were different levels of compliance by government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). Some government officials were compliant while others made little or no responses to requests for information, she said.
Birahwa said Information officers of various MDAs reported a lack of capacity, including limited access to the internet and a lack of interest amongst staff, as barriers to the release of information. Accordingly, the government communication strategy is aimed to better equip Chief Information Officers within the MDAs to better respond to information requests and to aid the progress of the ATIA.
The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD) received an award for their consistent and prompt release of information using the Ask Your Government (www.askyourgov.ug)  website. Dennis Obbo, the Principal Information Scientist at MLHUD, received the award on behalf of the ministry.
In order to encourage more citizens to exercise their right to information, in August last year, the OPM through the Ministry of Information and in partnership with AFIC and CIPESA launched www.askyourgov.ug to enable citizens to directly request public agencies information.
 
 
 
 
 
 

02Oct

The Challenge of Tackling Online Violence Against Women in Africa

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By Evelyn Lirri |
The story of a 19-year-old student from Kenya who committed suicide after a man she met through Facebook threatened to publish her nude photos came to the limelight on the heels of the opening day of the Forum on Internet Freedom in East Africa, which took place in Kampala, Uganda.
The forum, organised by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), under the OpenNet Africa Initiative, drew a cross-section of people from Africa and beyond, including human rights defenders, academics, , law enforcement officers, communication regulators, media, and the tech community to debate issues impacting online freedom of expression and cyber security in Africa. The emerging issue of online violence against women (VAW), a growing problem worldwide, was among the key topics discussed.
Panelists at the Forum said cyber violence against women exists in several forms, including stalking, sexual harassment, surveillance, revenge pornography, public shaming and use of images or videos to manipulate individuals. It is particularly carried out through email, social media such as Facebook, Twitter and mobile phone instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp.
Ruth Nsibirano, a gender expert from Makerere University, said it is difficult to quantify the extent of cyber VAW in Africa because of several inhibitions including the culture of silence.
“In many cases when women report this kind of violence, they are blamed for causing it and so they end up keeping quiet instead of speaking out,” explained Dr. Nsibirano. She added that many women were reluctant to report their tormentors because of the fear of reprisal and, in other cases, they did not know where to seek redress.
According to Jan Moolman, a feminist activist with  the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) who was on  the panel that discussed gender-based online violence, women’s access to the internet and technology remains low, especially in developing countries, leaving the conversation on internet rights to be dominated by men. She noted that in some African countries, online VAW was targeted at public figures, largely because of the nature of their work.
“We need policies and legislation by governments to say this kind of behaviour online is unacceptable. Just like we are responding to violence against women offline, we need to do the same online,” said Ms. Moolman.
Despite the ongoing reports of harassment and intimidation, Ms. Moolman urged more women and girls to join online spaces in order to be part of the conversation against the vice and how to ensure they are safe when they use different online platforms.
Nanjira Sambuli, a research manager with iHub Kenya, said cases of violence against women are usually difficult to prosecute because the evidence is hard to present.
“The cases that come to the limelight are likely a representative of what we don’t hear or see. We need to work towards frameworks that allow people to report anonymously. That way, we shall have a better sense of what is happening,” she said.
Ms. Sambuli highlighted the fact that efforts to combat violence against women have thus far been mainly offline, with fewer strategies put in place to document the harm that happens online and ensure women know where to seek help when they have been violated.
“The internet especially social media platforms are spaces where people are beginning to negotiate and understand what it means to have freedom and what the boundaries are. The internet should be a space where citizens can engage, learn and build a better society,” she added.
Among the possible efforts to curb the vice, Dr. Nsibirano called for increased education of women on the dynamics of the internet through school curriculums. “That way, we shall get more women who will be knowledgeable when these crimes happen,” she said.
Many countries across Africa do not have specific laws under which offenders can be prosecuted. In Uganda, some offenders have been charged under the Anti Pornography Act, 2014, but participants noted that this law was not sufficient to address the problem given that the same law could be used to prosecute the victims.
“Digital evidence is an area that the world is still trying to figure out,” noted Ms. Sambuli. She stressed the need for laws not to aggravate the infringement of victims’ privacy during investigations and prosecution of VAW crimes.
 
 

10Sep

Advancing Open Data Implementation in Africa

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By Ashnah Kalemera |
The push for open data that contributes to government transparency and accountability in service delivery and promotes citizens’ right to information and innovation in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector continues to gain prominence globally. Indeed, open data has been recognised as a key pillar of sustainable development. However, implementation of open data by African governments, civil society and the private sector is mostly in its infant stages, with some countries recording more success than others.
The demand and supply of open data in Africa is faced with numerous challenges including lack of complete data, authoritarian regimes, multiple fragmented actors, limited technical skills and capacity, inadequate infrastructure and low literacy rates.
On September 4-5, 2015, the government of Tanzania and the World Bank hosted the first Open Data Conference in Africa, that brought together the emerging open data community in Africa to showcase innovations and discuss opportunities and challenges to open data implementation.
Country representatives from Kenya, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ethiopia, among others shared experiences of national open data initiatives aimed at improved governance and better service delivery in the key sectors of education, water, health and transport. They highlighted the policy, financing, supply, demand, technology, and institutions driving these initiatives.
From civil society and the private sector, the innovations and practical applications showcased included Open Street Map Data in Dar es Salaam, Open Schools Kenya, open data for agriculture and nutrition, complex data visualized in Nigeria, open data for citizen engagement, energy and extractives among others.
Bella Bird, World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, told the conference that data is no longer for statisticians but governments that want to measure progress and democratic achievements. According to Ms. Bird, open data was “nowhere more relevant” than in Africa which is experiencing the fastest changes in population, urbanisation, and economic development compared to other continents.
She said that advancing open data in Africa was not just about making data accessible but making good data available and user friendly. “Without [data] evidence, planning and strategy is difficult and less likely to succeed,” she said.
The World Bank has supported over 30 countries around the world (including some in Africa) in the evaluation, design and implementation of open data initiatives. But few African countries are leveraging the potential of open data compared to their global counterparts.
In 2011, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched as a multilateral initiative “to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance”. To-date, only eight of the continent’s 54 countries have joined the partnership that works to increase government openness in budget transparency, access to information, asset disclosure by politicians and officials, and citizen engagement. The OGP has 58 other member states across the world.
Meanwhile, in 2014, the Global Open Data Index which measures and benchmarks the openness of data in 97 countries around the world ranked South Africa highest among 19 African countries surveyed, at position 36. Burkina Faso followed in 59th position and Senegal in 63rd. Among the lowest ranked countries were Guinea (97), Mali (96) and Sierra Leone (94).
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Figure 1: African Countries 2014 Open Data Index ranking (Source: Global Open Data Index)
However, as noted by Frannie Leautier, a managing partner with the Fezembat Group in France argued that it did not matter where African countries are ranked in the index or the partnerships they belong to. Focus should be on what stakeholders in each country can do with open data to improve livelihoods.
South Africa’s Statistician General, Pali Lehohla, noted that in translating open data into valuable outcomes in Africa, the issue of intellectual property should not be ignored. He said intellectual property particularly around algorithms used in data analysis must also be open for the full potential of open data to be realised in Africa.
Meanwhile, the World Wide Web Foundation’s Nnenna Nwakanma suggested that open data use on the continent should not only be about the accountability of governments but also about giving citizens the opportunity to plan, invest, and gain financially to better their lives.
“The problem in Africa is not money itself but how best to invest money. If we have the right information and data, the one billion citizens will start investing accordingly,” she said.
Participants at the conference which was held in Dar es Salaam widely recognised the key role of national statistics agencies in actualising the potential and impact of data. They also recognised the need to set up the right infrastructure and skills building to fill the existing gaps. Civil registration for birth, deaths, and marriages was recommended to ensure vital statistics are not always based on estimates. Other recommendations included advancing partnerships between the various actors to share experiences and avoid reinventing the wheel.
To read more about the conference proceedings, see #africaopendata.

18Aug

Tough New Election Reporting Rules for Tanzania’s Bloggers

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By Wairagala Wakabi |
Tanzania has introduced tough guidelines for broadcasters and online content providers including bloggers, as the country heads to the October 2015 elections at which observers say the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), faces its strongest challenge ever.
Titled ‘The Broadcasting Services (Content) (The Political Party Elections Broadcasts) Code 2015’, the rules were gazetted on June 26, 2015 and affect bloggers, SMS pollsters, and broadcasters in general. Although media owners were provided with copies of the new rules, they claim to have not received an explanation from government on how to use them.
The new rules, poor access to information, and other election-related threats to media freedom, were among the issues in focus at a training organised by CIPESA and the Media Institute of Southern Africa Tanzania (Misa-Tan) in Mwanza, Tanzania. The training conducted on August 10-11, drew 17 journalists from the Geita, Mara, and Mwanza regions and centred on effective media coverage during this year’s elections.
Section 10 of the 2015 code deals with “online content providers”, defined as “any person or entity who develops files of content for the online users or on behalf of others to be made accessible online.” It places burdensome requirements on online content providers “residing within or outside Tanzania territory” who create “content intended for Tanzania mainland using Swahili or any other languages which have large audiences.”
These requirements include registration with the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA); compliance with Tanzania’s laws and regulations governing the operations of electronic media; and ensuring that information provided in blogs is accurate, fair, factual, and balanced to all parties and independent candidates in the elections.
Furthermore, the rules require online content providers to make efforts to edit interactive discussions likely to hurt the feeling of any person, as well as offensive or blasphemous language that may provoke violence, sedition, or breach of peace. They are also required to “take necessary measures to screen information and reports before posting”, and to provide political parties and private candidates equal opportunities to reply where a report contains inaccurate or unfair criticism based on distorted facts.
Online publishers also have to “take care to ensure the accuracy on publishing election results or public opinion polls” and to adhere to the bloggers’ code of conduct.
However, according to Maxence Mello, publisher of the vibrant online platform Jamii Forums and a promoter of the nascent national bloggers’ association, there is no bloggers’ code in Tanzania. The blogging community is afraid the government could gazette such a code without consulting them, and use it to rein in critical bloggers.
The rules place stringent gate-keeping responsibilities on citizen journalists, including screening information before publishing and providing the right of reply. “How many blogs have accurate information?” ponders Maxence. “It is not easy for blogs to be balanced.”  The new regulations would require blogs to invest in cross-checking information, getting additional sources, and to generally not publish until they have adhered to journalistic principles ordinarily applicable to mainstream media.
“Lengo ni chukua control,” says Maxence in Swahili, describing the new rules as aimed at establishing state control on what bloggers and social media users publish and discuss online.
The election rules have also been criticised for requiring the media to carry political parties’ material in brief and free of commentary. “If a journalist reports only the way politicians have stated an issue, will that help citizens make an informed decision?” asked James Marenga, a lawyer with the Dar es Salaam-based National Organisation for Legal Assistance, and one of the trainers at the Mwanza workshop.
Tanzania goes to the polls this October, with CCM – the longest-ruling party in Africa – facing a stronger opposition headed by erstwhile Prime Minister Dr. Edward Ngoyai Lowassa. Dr. Lowassa defected from the ruling party after failing to clinch its flag-bearer position that was taken by works minister Dr. Pombe Magufuli.
Tanzania’s press freedom record has been on a slide, with arrests of journalists and banning of newspapers reported. The country still has laws dating back to the colonial era – such as the Newspaper Act of 1976 – which it has used to control online publishing. With a 69% telephone penetration rate and 11.3 million internet users, more Tanzanians have taken to the online sphere to express themselves.
Besides the elections reporting code, the country has this year introduced numerous laws that hamper media freedom and the right to freedom of expression. These include a cybercrimes and a statistics law that have been passed, as well as a media services bill and a right to information bill that are pending.
The new elections reporting code thus represents a continuation of the President Jakaya Kikwete Government’s law-making that shrinks civic space and restricts the role of independent media in advancing greater transparency and access to information during a crucial election.
Section 14 of the rules cautions that results from SMS opinion polls shall not be treated as representative scientific results. Should a broadcaster wish to use results from SMS opinion polls, they have to indicate the number of respondents and to provide select representative responses.
Where the SMS poll has less than 1,000 respondents, broadcasters shall inform the audience that it is not scientific and the conclusions are not valid and reliable. The rules bar the publishing of poll findings within 30 days before polling day.
The rules also require content service providers (“licensed persons who provide broadcasting content services under and in accordance with the provisions of laws and licence conditions” issued by TRCA) to ensure “proper use of SMS sent by the public to ensure accuracy, integrity, objectivity and balance.”
Tanzania’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression and right to information. These rights need to be strongly respected if the country in order to have a free and fair election and for democratic governance to flourish. To promote a vibrant media role in reporting the elections, CIPESA is working with Tanzanian partners to train reporters, bloggers, and editors. The next training is scheduled for Dar es Salaam in the last week of August.
 

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