1. ICT and Governance in East Africa:
Preliminary Study Findings from Kenya,
Uganda and Tanzania.
Nanjira Sambuli (@NiNanjira)
For @ihubresearch

2. We set out to
identify, describe and analyze conditions
under which ICT tools have facilitated two
way interaction between government and
citizens.
#ICTGOVEA

3. More specifically…
 if/how they promote rights/access to information,
 if/ how they facilitate civic participation (transparency
and accountability)
 if/how such tools assist in monitoring government's
service delivery (health, water etc) and
 if/how ICT tools have been, or can be utilized in tracking
corruption.
#ICTGOVEA

4. Mixed Methods:
Semi Structured Interviews, Focus Group Discussion,
Crowdsourcing.
Study Sites:
Kenya - Nairobi and Nakuru
Uganda - Kampala, Fort Portal, Lira, Apac
Tanzania - Dar es Salaam, Mwanza
NB: A Qualitative study.
Study Approach
#ICTGOVEA

5. Stakeholders interviewed:
1. Citizens: Two Focus Group Discussions with 8-10
citizens in each of the 6 study sites
2. Governments: Semi-Structured Interviews
3. Civil Society Organizations: Semi-Structured
Interviews
4. Developers: Semi-Structured Interviews
36 CSOs were interviewed, 6 Government
Institutions/Departments, 5 Developers
Study Approach:

6. 1. FACILITATING ACCESS TO INFORMATION:
Tool: Websites
Government : ‘One stop shop’ government portals.
Eg: Kenya’s mygov.go.ke , Uganda’s www.gov.ug ,
Tanzania’s www.tanzania.go.tz/
CSOs: Websites containing information,
• Parliamentary proceedings - Mzalendo (KE), Parliament
Watch (UG)
• mapping health institutions - AfyaMap (TZ).
#ICTGOVEA

7. • Citizen feedback: information on govt. websites is
basic and/or insufficient, outdated, jargon-laden,
‘retrievable on Google’.
• Govts' take: effort to keep website information up
to date is difficult, dependent on willingness by
various institutions/depts. to avail info.
• CSOs’ take : govt. info availed via websites useful
to their work. Citizen interaction with info on
websites yet to pick up.
Access to Info.

8. 2. FACILITATING CITIZEN PARTICIPATION:
i. Listening to citizen voice
• amplifying citizens' voice by providing communication
avenues through toll-free lines (SMS, voice)
• popular in localized contexts, and especially when combined
with topical radio shows/community radio stations.
ii. Participation via SMS
• SMS polls, eliciting citizens’ ideas on tackling issues,
combined with mapping and publishing of results.
• Bulk SMS systems, facilitating communication between govt.
officials and citizens

9. iii. Participation via Social Media
• Slow pick up – more engagement on Twitter than Facebook.
(case of Mzalendo, Parliament Watch, among others).
• Expression of opinion on various governance issues, not
necessarily in response to CSO efforts…
• Ties to citizen (youth esp.) perception of social media as
platforms for entertainment rather than civic engagement…
• Fear of being targeted for voicing concern via social media
also noted.

10. Citizen Participation
• Citizens are generally eager to have their voices
heard and take opportunities to do so but are also
discouraged from continued participation because of
a belief that no action will be taken.
• Topical radio talk shows have very high numbers of
listeners and people who call in to contribute to
discussions. This is primarily an effort in community
radio stations across the region.

11. 3. SERVICE DELIVERY.
Govts.
• ICTs popular for facilitating payment of taxes,
utilities – electricity, water.
• Websites, USSDs, apps.
CSOs.
• SMS, digital cameras (for evidence-based
monitoring) deployed.

12. Monitoring Government Service Delivery:
• Government efforts were most visible in service delivery
through ICTs, more than in other areas of focus in the
study eg revenue authorities.
• Tools for payment of services are used out of necessity
and convenience by citizens.
• User experience issues noted.
#ICTGOVEA

13. Monitoring Government Service Delivery:
• CSOs monitoring service delivery are particularly
focused in rural areas using non-Internet based tools
(SMS, digital cams eg.
• Information collected on service delivery is shared
among CSOs and with Government; responsible service
delivery institutions noted to be responsive.

14. 4. TRACKING CORRUPTION.
Govt.
• Websites and online portals to report corruption.
• SMS numbers
CSOs.
• Toll-free lines – SMS and voice. (TI-Kenya, TI-Uganda).

15. 4. TRACKING CORRUPTION.
● Citizens in FGDs indicated contentment with leveraging
ICTs to report corruption cases; the use of ICT has
minimized the fear of getting victimized; However,
people become demotivated to make reports if there
seems to be no action taken.
● Hardly any indication that government-deployed tools
have been leveraged to report corruption (trust factor).

16. Tracking Corruption:
● CSOs have no capacity/mandate to prosecute an
offender-they have to refer issues raised to appropriate
(govt.) institutions.
● sometimes misinterpreted by the citizens to be a sign of
no action from their side, hence discouraging further
reporting.
● Concerns on anonymity noted.
#ICTGOVEA

17. IN SUM:
• Low-cost (to end users) and non-Internet based tools
(radio, SMS eg) found to be most effective in Kenya,
Uganda and Tanzania.
– Combinations of these tools (eg topical/community
radio and SMS are particular effective in getting
citizen engagement towards govt. response to issues)
• Many websites, apps and other tools have slow uptake
due to:
– inadequate governance needs assessment.
– terrible user experience.
#ICTGOVEA

18. IN SUM:
• Citizen motivation to leverage ICTs:
– Ease and convenience (minimizing queuing time eg)
– Diminished fear of victimization given a perceived
sense of anonymity via ICTs.
– Minimal cost to users (especially to report, share
opinions).
• Demotivation to leverage ICTs:
– Disillusionment, apathy among citizens (‘nothing will
be done’ conviction).
– Digital (il)literacy
– Costs of deployment and maintenance (govt, CSOs).

19. Emerging Questions (for discussion)
What informs the creation and deployment of civic tech
applications?
How can end users (the citizens) be better
involved/engaged in design processes for ICTs deployed
to address governance issues?
How can the growing popularity of social media be
leveraged to address governance issues, bridge
communication gaps between government and citizens?
#ICTGOVEA

20. Emerging Questions (for discussion)
How do we balance access to information with
understanding of the information availed?
What informs governments’ ICT efforts?
How do we go beyond apathy, disillusionment among
citizens? Can ICTs help?
#ICTGOVEA

21. For more on the study, please visit
bitly.com/ICTGovEA
Get in touch
nanjira@ihub.co.ke
research@ihub.co.ke
#ICTGOVEA