Blog – Page 160 of 189 – Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)

04Mar

Using ICT to Promote the Right to Information: Perceptions of Ugandan Citizens and Public Officials

admin March 4, 2015

By Juliet Nanfuka |
Towards the end of 2014, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) conducted research into how public officials and citizens perceived the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to advance the right to information in Uganda.
The studies revealed that there is a keen interest by citizens and public officials to leverage digital tools for increased transparency, civic awareness and participation in democratic processes. However, a larger proportion of citizens was using ICT relative to the public officials to improve access to information.
One study involved the administration of a questionnaire to 62 public officers from more than 30 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). A second study targeting citizens involved the administration of a separate questionnaire amongst 235 respondents drawn from 10 districts, mainly university students, journalists, and staff of civil society organisations.
Uganda enacted the Access to Information Act (ATIA) in 2005, becoming one of the first African countries to have such a law. The Act, however, remained unimplemented until 2011 when the enabling regulations were enacted.
Although the Access to Information Act has been in existence for the last nine years, only 18% of the public officials and 10% of citizens rated themselves as extremely knowledgeable about the law. While all public officials had some level of knowledge of the law, 9% of citizens indicated no knowledge at all of the law.
Whereas citizens indicated histories of having made information requests, only 39% of public officials indicated that they had ever received an information request made formally using the 2005 ATIA. Notably, 87% of the information requests were made informally without mention of the ATIA or completing the required request forms.
The research reveals that although ICT tools such as emails and telephone calls are being used to request for information, requested information remains in silos as it is given directly to the requester with no guarantee that it will be disseminated further.
Challenges noted by public officials for the low levels of information release included limited ICT skills, the Official Secrets Act (1964) which hampers release of information to the public, and limited resources to adequately implement the Act on a more regular basis.
Meanwhile, following the launch of the Ask Your Government (www.askyourgov.ug) initiative in August 2014, the research aimed to gauge respondents’ knowledge and use of the portal. The portal was launched by government in partnership with civil society to enable Ugandan citizens to make public information requests from MDAs.
In the research, 75% of public officials strongly agreed that the use of ICT would make it easier and simpler to respond to information requests. This was supported by 79% of the citizen respondents who believed that the use of ICT to make information requests was likely to enable public bodies become more responsive than use of manual, non-ICT means. This would alleviate the “long process” and “cumbersome bureaucracy” which citizens pointed out as key reasons for not using the law to request for information.
For journalists who participated in the research, the 21 days which the law gives public officials to respond to information requests was cited as a key challenge given the tight deadlines in media work.
See: Advancing the Right to Information Amongst Ugandan Journalists
However, both citizens and officials indicated some skepticism about the effective use of ICT to adequately support the right to information. Public officials pointed out technical challenges such as low bandwidth, outdated equipment and limited skills within the MDAs.
One official noted, “Although employed by government, many officials have no access to ICT and some lack knowledge of how to use the tools.” Safety and security concerns were raised with regard to citizens’ personal information.
Key report Findings:

33% of the interviewed citizens had ever made an information request using the ATIA law. However, only 28% of these requests received positive outcomes.
SMS was ranked the ICT tool that citizens were most proficient in using, at 58%, followed by social media at 44%. However, respondents used Facebook more frequently than SMS.
Public officials ranked their proficiency highest in using SMS (63%) and email (60%), and they used email most frequently, followed by SMS. Social media use ranked low amongst public officials.

The research recommends that civil society should engage more proactively in advocacy for the right to information amongst citizens. Meanwhile, public officials should encourage citizens to make information requests. It also recommends that public officials adopt a combination of both ICT and non-ICT based channels to ensure that information requests by citizens are attended to promptly as a means of ensuring citizens’ motivation to increase their demand for information.
Public officials recognised that improvements can be made to better put more information in the public domain. They recommended the provision of more authority to information and communication officers to disclose information; increased use by MDAs of interactive websites and social media as these are channels that their audiences are using; and a repeal of the Official Secrets Act (1964).
See the full research reports below:
Ugandan Public Officials’ Perceptions of using ICT to Advance Right to Information
Citizen’s Perceptions of Using ICT to Make Right to Information Requests in Uganda

03Mar

Here's What CIPESA is Up To in 2015

admin March 3, 2015

ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network: With funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), CIPESA is coordinating this project, which includes sub-granting to the following partners: the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (Tanzania), iHub Research (Kenya), the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Women of Uganda Network, Toro Development Network, and Transparency International Uganda. The Network uses ICT to promote citizen participation in democratic processes, human rights monitoring and social accountability.
OpenNet Africa: This project continues from 2012 and has support from the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos) and the Open Technology Fund. Activities include an examination of the threats to access, privacy and security online in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. We are documenting internet rights violations on an ongoing basis and maintaining the www.opennetafrica.org portal as the one-stop resource on internet freedoms in Africa. We are training human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers, artists and minority groups on internet freedoms, privacy and security online; as well as testing and promoting the use of tools that enable anonymising users’ identities, secure communications and the circumvention of online censorship.
Leveraging Open Data and the Right to Information to Promote Service Delivery: The purpose of the project is to empower citizens in East Africa to use Right to Information (RTI) laws and constitutional guarantees in combination with ICT to lodge information requests from public bodies. The project also involves awareness-raising and network building activities to promote RTI in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The work is supported by the Open Society Foundations.
iParticipate Uganda: This project has been ongoing since 2011 and is currently supported by Sida. Activities include training of media and civil society in the use of ICT to promote citizen participation in democratic processes; research and promoting awareness on the utility of ICT for promoting citizen participation in democratic and public accountability processes. The activities also include provision of support to grassroots public ICT access centres; and engaging policy makers and other influencers on enabling ICT related policies to support democratisation and free expression.
Local Actions to Secure Internet Rights: This project specifically focuses on promoting individual’ privacy and personal data online. Using the current drafting process of the Uganda Data Protection and Privacy Bill 2014, we are building advocacy work towards the adoption of a progressive legislation that protects individuals’ data and privacy in the digital era. The country has a number of laws that undermine the rights to freedom of expression, data protection, privacy and access to information. These include: the Anti-Pornography Act 2014, The Regulations on Interceptions on Communications 2010, Anti-Terrorism Act 2002, Official Secrets Act 1964, and the Computer Misuse Act 2011. The Ford Foundation is supporting this work through the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).

25Feb

Uganda Government Launches Open Data Readiness Assessment

admin February 25, 2015

By Ashnah Kalemera
The government of Uganda has officially launched an Open Data Readiness Assessment (ODRA) study to review the country’s state of play of Open Government Data (OGD). The announcement was made at a stakeholder meeting held at the Ministry of Finance Economic Planning and Development in Kampala on February 23, 2015. The launch was attended by representatives from civil society and different Ministries, Departments and Agencies involved in implementing open data initiatives.
Coordinated by the Finance ministry, in partnership with the National Information Technology Authority (NITA) and the World Bank, the ODRA study aims to develop an action plan that provides recommendations for the government on how to implement a national open data initiative.
The launch of the assessment comes on the tail of the World Open Data Day which was commemorated in over 100 cities across the world on Saturday February 21. In the country’s capital Kampala, the day saw local enthusiasts converge at an innovation hub to discuss Open Data trends and also conduct practical exploration exercises on currently available data.
The ODRA study is based on the World Bank’s Open Data Toolkit and focuses on senior leadership, policy and legislative frameworks, institutional structures, and the responsibilities and capabilities within government. Other areas of focus include government data management policies and data availability, demand for open data, civic engagement capabilities, funding availability for an open data program, and the national infrastructure and skills. The study will involve stakeholder interviews in key priority sectors such as health, education, water, agriculture, energy and minerals, and roads and infrastructure.
A similar open government data assessment study, for Uganda conducted by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in 2011 uncovered that in the absence of a dedicated open data portal, some Ugandan institutions were performing very well as far as making data and information available in the public domain. Based on basic tenets of open data readiness: knowledge, attitudes and practice, the study concluded that Uganda was ready to implement OGD with appropriate support and guidance. There however remained the need to create systems and infrastructure to converge all government data into a single location. There was also the need for a shift in attitude towards open data use and the development of appropriate regulations and standards that conform to OGD initiatives.
Indeed, a number of open governance initiatives have since taken root, including those lead by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Water and Environment, Ministry of Health and CSO coalitions.
To further support availability and information provision in the public domain, the Ministry of Information and National Guidance, in partnership with CIPESA and the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) launched an online portal (www.askyourgov.ug) in August 2014 aimed at enabling citizen’s right to information as provided for under the Access to Information Act (2005).
According to the World Bank analysts, African countries that benefited from ODRA assessments have witnessed tangible results by implementing open data initiatives. These include Kenya, Burkina Faso and Ghana whose open data portals are aimed at promoting accountability, transparency, innovation and improved service delivery. In Nigeria, an initiative is in place at local government level while more recently, an Ebola Open Data portal was launched to help manage the disease outbreak in Western Africa. The various initiatives have recorded varied levels of success in terms of the relevance of the data availed, the frequency of updates, sustainability and uptake.
The Uganda ODRA study action plan is expected to be released at the end of March 2015 with validation taking place in April 2015.

24Feb

Advancing the Right to Information Amongst Ugandan Journalists

admin February 24, 2015

Uganda’s Access to Information Act (ATIA), 2005 is gaining traction as more journalists and citizens become aware of how they could utilise it to demand for information from public offices. Last November, journalists from 16 print and broadcast media houses were trained in using this law and the Ask Your Government (AYG) portal to address challenges related to accessing information for reporting.
The journalists were drawn from the country’s central region (Kampala) and Hoima in the oil-rich Bunyoro region in western Uganda. During the training sessions organised by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), participants discussed challenges to accessing information from government officials. Only a handful of participants were knowledgeable about ATIA and its regulations passed in 2011.
Meanwhile, in a landmark case, on February 6, a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kampala ruled that the reasons for which information is requested or the belief about how it will be used “are irrelevant considerations” in determining government’s approval or denial of a request. The ruling came after the Hub for Investigative Media was denied access to information related to activities of the National Forestry Authority funded by the World Bank between 2009 and 2011. The landmark ruling sets a precedent that could make it easier for journalists and citizens to exercise the right to information.
The journalists involved in the CIPESA trainings reported that in most of their practicing experience, they sought and acquired information from “inside sources” on condition of anonymity, as civil servants habitually declined to officially provide the information requested.
“Some government bodies do not have public information departments, forcing journalists and citizens in need of information to move from one office to another, often in vain,” remarked John Kibego, who writes for The Observer newspaper from Hoima. “Many times when there are PR (public relations) people they do not have sufficient information.”
Hoima lies more than 200kms north-west of the capital Kampala. A lot of information related to the country’s oil sector is centralised at the national government in Kampala and the country headquarters of key sector players such as Tullow and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), who have invested heavily in oil exploration activities in Hoima. This caused great difficulty for upcountry based journalists to access information on exploration and related activities in the region.
According to the trainees, in the instances where information was readily available, it appeared to have a public relations spin to it and did not adequately fulfil the requirements for which it was requested.
A journalist from Community Green FM in Hoima said the station had offered a free one hour programme for government to showcase work in the region, “but we have to beg government officials to come to the show and sometimes they do not come. Sometimes we have to promise to pay them before they come to the show.”
It was also noted that some government officials feel the media is always out on a witch-hunt, making them reluctant to part with information requested by journalists.
Nonetheless, participants were encouraged to always cite the ATIA when requesting for information from government officials. The law compels public officials to release information which is not exempted by the law. However, concern was raised about the 21 days within which an official has to respond to an information request. Participants highlighted this as an obstacle to receiving timely information as required in a fast-paced media environment.
The refusal to disclose information categorised by the Act as “classified” was another challenge. Information exempted by ATIA includes that relating to matters of national security, cabinet records, protected information (such as information being used during a court proceeding), and health records.
Furthermore, some negating laws such as the Regulations of Interception of Communications Act, 2010, Official Secrecy Act, 1964, and the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2002 provided additional barriers to citizens’ right to information and proactive provision of information by public officials. The Secrecy Act prohibits officials from disclosing government information.
To facilitate the media’s work, participants were encouraged to utilise the www.askyourgov.ug portal in lodging formal information requests. The portal provided a means to rectify media concerns over perceived lack of government transparency given that requests made and their responses (granted or denied) were made public.
At the end of the trainings, participants were encouraged to register on the portal and make information requests to government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as they develop stories for their respective media houses. Over the coming months, CIPESA will be documenting the developed stories as case studies on the implementation of the Access to Information Act in Uganda.

See a journalist’s experience using the portal: Ask your Government Could Stamp Out Corruption in Uganda

AYG is an initiative of the Directorate of Information and National Guidance, Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in partnership with CIPESA and the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC).
To learn more about AYG, see:

15Feb

Promoting Community Dialogue on Service Delivery Failures in Northern Uganda

admin February 15, 2015

By Gladys Oroma |
In 2014, the Collaboration on International Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in partnership with the Northern Uganda Media Centre (NUMEC) launched a project to make Public Sector Information (PSI) more accessible and reusable by stakeholders such as citizens, civil society and the media in Northern Uganda.
Focusing on the districts of Gulu, Nwoya and Amuru, which bore the brunt of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency, the project sought to document the status of service delivery in the education, health and infrastructure sectors through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
In particular, the project set out to document service delivery failures as a result of donor aid cuts to the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP), and to generate debate by citizens through community debates, radio talk shows and ICT-based engagements on improving service delivery needs of post-conflict communities.
Initiated by the Uganda government in 2009, the PRDP initiative aims to revitalise the economy and livelihoods of communities in the post-conflict region through efforts like construction of classroom blocks, rehabilitation of roads, constructions of bridges, supply of solar panels, and rehabilitation of health centres. However, the programme has been discredited following allegations of corruption, resulting in a general distrust of its activities by community members familiar with it.
Other activities by CIPESA and NUMEC included building ICT skills and knowledge for citizens and journalists to access and gainfully use open data and PSI to contribute to better service delivery; increasing interactions between citizens and leaders; and promoting greater access to PSI for citizens in Northern Uganda.
Community debates were conducted in the districts of Gulu and Nwoya, enabling local residents to engage directly with local leaders, PRDP officials and the media. During a community debate in October 2014, residents of Acet in Odek sub-county in Gulu reported that they were not informed about the PRDP activities in their locality.
David Latigo Odongo, Local Council chairman of the Acet village, said the majority of residents in the area were not familiar with PRDP. “Even the local leaders were not educated about PRDP activities so when officials from Kampala come and ask to be shown PRDP activities in the area, the local leaders get confused,” he said.
He added that it is such lack of sensitisation that makes the people not to monitor projects implemented in the area. “They do not know who will monitor and take care of PRDP projects, that is why when projects like water boreholes are constructed in the area, people look at it as freebies from either the government or NGOs,” he said.
Educating the community before implementing the projects would have enabled local leaders and the community to monitor the project, he said.
Proceedings of the community debates were recorded and broadcasted on Mega FM, a local radio station with an estimated reach of 1.6 million listeners. Also two video recordings of the community debates were produced, in addition to two 15 minute documentary videos capturing the service delivery challenges under PRDP. They were shared during the project dissemination meeting held in November 2014. The videos show shoddy works, lack of coordination among project implementers, incomplete projects and inadequate funds are some of the challenges affecting the success of the PRDP.
Furthermore, talk shows were conducted on Mega FM. Through call-ins, listeners gave recommendations and opinions while others asked about the various stalled projects in their communities.
The first talk show held in July was attended by the Nwoya district Chairman, Patrick Oryema, the Chairman of Purongo Sub – Country, Francis Okumu, and the PRDP focal person for Nwoya Geoffrey Akena and members of the NUMEC team. The program focused on seeking further explanations on the failures on the PRDP from the officials.
The district officials pointed to the fact that some of the cases are currently before the Inspector General of Government (IGG) and that the district was trying to come up with a directive to allow them not to pay contractors until their work is completed.
The October talk show hosted the Sub-County Council Chairman of Odek, Adebe Wokorach, and the PRDP coordinator for Gulu district, Peter Enoch Ocen.
As a result of the community engagements, awareness of stalled projects under PRPD has increased and local people are now able to make follow ups on reported cases. For instance, the Gulu district Chairperson – Martin Mapenduzi was prompted to visit one of the documented schools, Awoonyim Primary School, to find out more about the stalled school project. However, at the time of this reporting, we were unable to establish the immediate outcome of the chairperson’s visit to the school.
The NUMEC-CIPESA partnership is in the context of the iParticipate Uganda initiative as part of the ICT4Democracy in East Africa network, supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

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