Freedom of expression crackdown in Uganda, why Social Media is not helpful.

Over the past one week, I have closely followed the story about the recent media crackdown of one of Uganda's leading independent newspapers TheDaily Monitor , RedPepper a tabloid and a couple of radio stations. I have, on daily basis streamed local news via NTV Uganda , followed the social media buzz and read blogs from some of Uganda Journalist like Charles Onyango Obbo and Angelo Izama regarding the media besiege of 20th May 2013 in Kampala Uganda.

With many personalized African regimes, where you easily get thrown in jail for publishing news that holds the government accountable, there is no doubt that good journalists become an endangered species. Main stream Journalist have become an easily target and have been victims of media crackdowns with so many being thrown in jail and threatened or have their licenses withdrawn by the communications regulator Like Rosebell Kagumire a Journalist and blogger shares.

 

 Snap shot of tweets about the Besiege on 20/5/13

Because of such risks, the advent of social media has shaped and continues to shape the experience of news because, it not only enables real time reporting but also creates millions of witnesses to hold Governments accountable. We all witnessed its impact during the Arab spring and how the narrative about Kenya is Changing though an online movement on Twitter dubbed #KOT [Kenyans on twitter] who will not waste any chance to correct  international media like CNN for wrongly broadcasting news about the various situations in Kenya. All these have been very successful but the same approach has failed to yield anything tangible in Uganda yet a reasonable number of Ugandan use social media.

The obvious reasons will be attributed to issues of numbers; how many people use social media in Uganda,what social media platforms are used, if any, what they are used for, if there are rules governing usage? Etc. While I personally agree that big numbers are essential for advocacy, they do not always guarantee positive impact. But for those who use social media (which is quite a reasonable number) how is their online activism and advocacy shaping and or impacting on the media freedom debate in Uganda? 

This is why I think social media is/has not been helpful in Uganda

1. For many of us, action has become what we think. We have chosen to use social media as platforms to express our grievances and only stop at that, and then leave it for few ‘brave’ ones to act. And unfortunately, only few brave people have acted. This is why I think that, social media has not been an effective tool in advocating for positive social change or creating positive impact in instances where the government has silenced citizens who question its mandate, those who express their opinion freely and those who threaten its existence in one way or another through freedom of expression. 

2. We advocate for connectivity without pushing for freedom yet at the back of our minds, we know that this cannot work. In many places worldwide, ordinary people have been tortured and continue to be toured because of censorship. Without freedom, many Ugandans are hesitant to participate in sensitive issues that jeopardize their existence, so they choose to follow the “bandwagon” effect and share information randomly without good coordination such that at the end of it all, no one is responsible for the online buzz and therefore one is to blame or held accountable because somehow everyone is responsible.

3. When you look at a list of Ugandans on twitter you will notice that these are elite and mainly urban dwellers that have jobs to protect and fear to get on the wrong side of government. You will hardly find members of parliament, the police, ministers and other legislators with personal accounts that they manage and use to engage. For online campaigns to be successful in real life, there must be a leader, someone to guide the discussion and move it forward, someone to keep the interest strong right from the start to the end, to keep the online communities of practice focused and not easily swayed away by other "breaking news" a common trend on social media platform and above all someone ready to take up the biggest part of responsibility and willing to be accountable. We do not have many of such people in Uganda when it comes to sensitive issues that that are linked to or involve the government.

4. The communication regulator, Uganda communication Commission (UCC) claims to recognize the fundamental importance of ICTs in all policies for development and says that it creates the conditions for the fullest participation by all sections of the population, yet the same regulator is quick to shut down radio stations and threaten to block social media websites when citizens use the internet to question issues of governance like it currently is with freedom of expression. In 2011, UCC, through Internet service providers attempted to block social media websites twitter and face book during the presidential elections and Walk to work riots. Major telecoms in Uganda were also accused of violating customer privacy because they were censoring SMS messages with key words like Egypt, Mubarak during the Arab spring. These actions by the country's communications regulator raise suspicion among online internet users making them worry about their privacy thereby hindering online activism that could later on become physical activism.

   

   Aljazeera's Malcom Webb (R) runs away from a teargas Canister during the journalist demo in Kampala, Uganda on 28/5/13: Photo by Isaac Kisamani 

   Like Chris Obore an investigative Journalist with the Daily Monitor recently said during the 2013 Internet freedom Forum in Sweden , that "Until internet begins to determine politics in my Government, it will still remain useless for so many”. It is true that very little advantage can be taken of the opportunities social media provides if the policies needed to provide citizens with meaning and purpose are not conducive. And because we still have a small online community in Uganda, the newspapers and radio stations are effective ways of accessing relevant and timely information by the populace. We need our journalists to be protected because they are society watch dogs. Threatening them and beating them affects us all. We need to be informed so that we can question and hold our government accountable because we are all stakeholders. Journalists surely deserve better.

Samsung solar powered Mobile Health Centre(s) in Africa

2013 theme: "Journey of Wonders"

I was privileged to attend the 4^th Samsung Africa Forum that took place in Cape Town from 12^th -17^th March 2013. It was indeed a “journey of Wonders” that truly reflected this year’s theme.  A few years ago, not so much was known about Samsung products, but today, they have become a household name as seen from many of their products like the Galaxy phones, Televisions, Fridges, cameras and washing machines among others. With a total of over 200 Journalists and bloggers from all over the African continent in attendance, the forum recognized the role played by media in reaching out to their clientele and informing the public about their products and services.  According to Mr. KK Park the CEO of Samsung Electronics Africa, “Samsung’s Key concern has been, and will continue to be, how to develop the technology to resolve all the difficulties that African People can face” He adds that Samsung’s presence in Africa is about bringing Samsung’s Smart world to the continent, creating a smarter eco-system for Africa with a purpose to contribute to the society because business exists to make a contribution to human society and if the contribution is recognized, the business grows and so do the profits, revenue and brand reputation.

Changing the Face of Africa’s remote Areas with Mobile Health Centres

The Mobile Health Centre Truck

When someone reads “Mobile Health”, the first thought is a mobile phone being used to share information about health in Africa like it has always been the norm. Samsung has a different approach to Mobile health. It has set itself a goal to reach one million people by 2015 through a solar powered mobile health Centre on the back of a track fitted with medical supplies and qualified medical staff.

As part of its broader cooperate social responsibility goal, it aims at positively impacting the lives of five million people in Africa by 2015.  According to the World Bank , more than 60% of people in sub- saharan Africa live in rural areas, and people often lack time and resources to reach clinics, particularly if they are sick.

The centre, essentially a solar powered shipping container, contains equipment that allows for a range of medical services to be performed and these include dental services, screening, radiology and ophthalmology.  Some of the medical partners in this project include World Vision, Doctors without boarders ,South African Department of health and Aspen Phamaceuticals.  

Innovative Technology can transform Lives in Africa

It is evident that across Africa, the populace faces many challenges such as poor health facilities, poor social infrastructure, energy shortage especially electricity and limited access to education facilities yet Africa has been blessed with plenty of natural resources such as sunshine.  Samsung’s innovation of the solar powered mobile health centre is of great relevance to a continent where millions of people are not yet online and the investment in such innovative technology from such business companies needs to be embraced and replicated allover the continent. Because of the many challenges in  Africa, it seems to be a fantacy rather than a reality  to promote a larger use of  mobile health centres like these, but Samsung is definitely changing this. For so long, Africa has lacked the imagination to learn the many ways technology can transform lives and not just transform bank balances of the few companies that control the Technology.  Samsung Africa is determined to transform the lives of many as a way of giving back to the community that supports them.

Note: These mobile Health Centres are in South Africa

Follow @SamsungSA #AfricaForum #samsung on Twitter for more details!

The Girls Who Code in Kampala

In a city like Kampala, It's not common that you find a group of over 50 girls seated in one room in the name of programming. Not because they are unable to, but because there exists a stereotype that programming is something for the male gender. This rare occurance came true during the  just concluded very first Rails Girls event held in Kampala Uganda that took place at the Outbox Hub on the 18th and 19th of Jan 2013, with a total of about 75 girls in attendance.These were both students and working class ladies. Organised by Thoughtworks Uganda a global IT consultancy, the 1 days event saw many young tech enthusiastic girls around Kampala mainly members of  GirlGeeksKampala, who are passionate about programming come together to write code. The main focus was ruby on Rails. It was a free event open to both novice and advanced programmers and was taking place in many major cities around the world. While speaking to Kathy Gettelfinger a Principal with ThoughtWorks, She said that “bringing more women into the industry will create better software”

Demistifying society’s belief that WOMEN cannot program

Many people still believe that girls or woman cannot reason technically worse still program. This stereotype and belief has been attributed to the few numbers of girls studying computer science, Artificial intelligence, software engineering and any other technical related courses at high institutions of learning. The ways in which boys and girls are socialized in Uganda right from Childhood, coupled with societal stereotypes plays a key role in what children choose study in future. For instance as children, boys are introduced to technology at a very tender age through the nature of toys they are given eg, video games like WII, toy guns and many more electronics, whereas majority girls are introduced to dolls and less tech related toys.  The confidence of the boy child is then built to interface easily with technology while that of the girl has to be built as she grows up. This is just one example but several others exist. However, over the past few years, this belief no longer 'holds water' as many girls just like boys have continued to prove that they too can mentally achieve what their male counterparts can in areas of Technology, engineering, medicine and other science related fields which were once a province of the male gender.

A cross Section of Girls coding. Photo/Thoughtworks Uganda

What’s the progress in Uganda?

Where as it's true that there has been a lot of progress in trying to bridge the gender digital divide in Uganda, it is so unfortunate that this progress is mainly evident in Urban Uganda, Kampala to be more specific. The same is not true for many rural girl children who continue to live by stereotypes and societal perception. Over all in educations, the gender gap is being bridged. A good example is the statistics for the upcoming 62^nd Graduation of Makerere University, the biggest in Uganda and one of the best and popular in Africa.  with 53.3% of total graduates being male and 46.7% being female http://news.mak.ac.ug/documents/62ndgrad/Makerere-62nd-Graduation-Statistics.pdf. A lot of effort is being put to bridge the gender digital divide in Uganda by organisations and associations like GirGeekKampala, WOUGNET and WITU.  Girls and women must be encouraged to take up tech courses and to use these skills and make a profession out of them if the gender digital divide is too be bridged.

For more details of what transpired globally, please visit http://railsgirls.com/ 
For More Pictures; Please got to Thoughtworks Facebook Page