The inhabitants of Bushenyi District in Uganda have seen their right to access in­formation blatantly violated by public bodies; reflecting the plight of thousands of ordinary citizens who wish to hold their leaders account­able.

Unusual and suspicious delays in the execution of a contract to build a new sta­dium in the District of Bushenyi amid rumours that the District had issued certificates against which payments were made when work had not been done prompted this community led by Civil Society Forum, a local NGO, on Decem­ber 8, 2009 to demonstrate and file a series of requests for access to documents related to the contract.

By Ashnah Kalemera

Social media is fast becoming one of the major uses of the Internet. Wikis, blogs and other social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube have been added to the Internet as enablers for developing, storing and disseminating instant information to audiences of people in diverse locations at a fairly low cost.

Social networks could potentially be used for a broad range of participatory activi­ties, such as demanding for public services like education and water, contacting leaders, political cam­paigns and discussions, and fighting corruption. They also could play a critical role in citizen engagement and advocacy, which have a major bearing on transparency and ac­countability in governance and the conduct of public affairs.

By Lillian Nalwoga

Tanzanian citizens are increasingly using social media networks to share information and, to a lesser extent, demand more transparency in the con­duct of public affairs. But there are concerns about the apparent intolerance by Tanzanian authorities of online activity deemed critical of the government.

By Ashnah Kalemera

Launched in May 2011, ICT for Democracy in East Africa (ICT4DemEA) is a network of organisations undertaking collaborative projects where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is used in various ways to promote transparency, accountability and democracy. The network, with seed funding from the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (Spider) comprises of organisations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. These are the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET); Transparency International Uganda (TIU); The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA); iHub (Kenya) the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Tanzania’s Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG). 

The projects spearheaded by each organisation leverage on ICT with the aim to fight corruption, enhance the right to freedom of expression, monitor service delivery, hold leaders accountable and encourage civic participation. During the recently concluded Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Nairobi, September 27-30, 2011, the regional network partners met to discuss the progress of their projects.