Cell phones to aid in election coverage
By Gladys Kemunto Posted Oct 1 2007
From delivering messages to fish mongers among Lake Victoria’s shoreline communities to alerts about roaming wildlife in the Meru Game Reserve near Mt. Kenya, mobile phones have taken communication in Kenya to a new level.
A cell phone isn’t only a critical tool dominating socioeconomic aspects of life in Kenya; it’s also playing a crucial role in the design and dissemination of election messages as the country prepares for its fourth general elections since the introduction of the multiparty system in 1992. The elections will be held on Dec. 27.
“All presidential candidates now have customized messages that will be disseminated on mobile phones,” says Kaplich Barsito, a communication consultant for Kalonzo Musyoka, one of the presidential aspirants. “The mobile will be used as a fundraising tool as the messages will be charged at a premium rate on subscription.”
The turning point for mobile phones in Kenya came at the height of Kenya’s first referendum campaign for the proposed constitution in 2005. Presidential aspirant Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement party or ODM, which was saying “no” to the proposed constitution, had visited a rural community in Machakos district. Musyoka, also of the ODM, was in the U.S. to raise funds for the referendum campaigns. However, with the use of a mobile phone, Musyoka demonstrated that he was still with the party when he called Odinga’s cell phone and addressed supporters from the U.S.
Chris Kituto, a technician with Information Communication Technology, who watched the event on KTN TV, described it as a “miracle.”
“It was amazing,” he says. “The gathering was electrified that Kalonzo, who was in America, could actually address them ‘live’ from miles away.”
Royal Media Service, which was supporting the proposed constitution, used mobile phones to report about all the “yes” campaigns throughout the country.
The referendum was groundbreaking for mobile phones; it defined their space in coverage and reporting of elections.
“This year, all politicians and journalists can ignore the cell phone at their own peril,” says Barsito.
Cell phones in Kenya have proven to be handy as critical research tools.
Barsito says key data is analyzed daily from the several call-in sessions that have been designed by the more than 20 FM stations broadcasting in Kiswahili, Kenya’s national language, or in English.
In the early 1990s, before the government’s liberalization of ICT, a cell phone was a status symbol in Kenya. Flamboyant former ruling party operatives allied to retired President Daniel Arap Moi were among the few who could afford the expensive gadgets that retailed for about $4,000. But now, it’s possible to get a handset for as little as $30. Between 1993 and 1999, the cell phone subscriber base remained at a marginal 20,000. But now the total fixed and mobile telephone subscriptions have hit seven million, which makes Kenya one of the fastest ICT growing countries in Eastern Africa.
Today in Kenya, one can easily get information on dating, commodity prices and political breaking news on cell phones using C3 technology, a system of applications, pioneered by Nairobi-based Interactive Media Services. The company offers a wide range of software designed to provide rapid response such as quizzes and games through mobile phones, Internet and radio.
Fifteen years after controls over the information and communication systems crumbled with the single party system, new ICTs have given new platforms for freedom of expression to the people of Kenya. While opening Safaricom’s headquarters in Nairobi in July, Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki attributed the phenomenal ICT sector growth to enabling government policy and goodwill. Safaricom is a local agent of United Kingdom-based Vodafone Inc., and was the first cell phone provider to enter the Kenyan mobile phone market.
Citing conducive ICT sector growth, environment and infrastructure, Celtel, Kenya’s second cell phone service provider, moved its African regional headquarters to Nairobi in July.
The government recently granted a license to a third mobile operator, and the state-owned Telkom Kenya has also started operating wireless digital cellular telephone systems.
During the elections, the expansive North Eastern province will appreciate the improved mobile phone networks. Bordering Ethiopia and war-torn Somalia, the province has lagged behind for several years because of negligence. Journalists working in the region are upbeat that improved infrastructure will greatly impact the residents’ quality of life.
Said Wabera, who runs a news correspondence service in the region, says that this year, election reporting will be a lot easier.
“In 2002, the vote counting and filing of election returns from the Northern Kenya were received in Nairobi 24 hours after the ballot was cast,” Wabera says. “This year, the results from the province might be the first ones to arrive because each returning officer will announce results on location as per Electoral Commission of Kenya rule.”
Wabera thinks that with more journalists having cell phones with multimedia capabilities, the election results will be relayed instantly.
Kennedy Buhere, a western Kenya-based information officer for Kenya News Agency, says mobile technology would reduce the number of election petitions since the information announced would be public.
Buhere recalls the first time that the provincial information office used a cell phone to relay information about a plane crash that involved cabinet ministers in Jan. 2003.
“I did not own a handset, but my boss had just bought hers,” he says. “We broke the news. After that, I realized a cell phone was fast becoming the third single most important item besides my pen and notebook.”
But perhaps a mobile phone’s most important role now is the gauging of public opinion on political issues of the day.
Ogaro Gwaro, a department of information officer says he “faithfully” follows the daily opinion polls now posted on two leading television networks.
“I gauge the opinion, which I then later apply in my daily work,” he says.
The opinion polls sometimes attract about 20,000 hits a day, which is 10 times bigger than the regular Steadman Kenya Ltd. opinion polls sample size. Steadman Kenya, an affiliate of Gallup International, has pioneered cutting-edge media research technology in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1984.
“Seventy percent of the opinion poll questions are of political content,” says Isaac Bob, a student at the University of Nairobi’s School of Journalism. “A journalist can even pitch a story idea from the results of the opinion poll, without fear of being censured.”
Nation Media Group, Kenya’s leading news provider, hosts a political breaking news service. By dialing “6667” with the word politics after the number, one gets in the loop about Kenyan politics daily.
“Kenyans sleep, drink and eat politics, and the service is absolutely necessary to amplify political news,” says Julius Bosire, Nation Media Group’s Kisumu bureau chief.
This service complements Safaricom’s own 411, which has more than half a million subscribers. However, as the mobile phone becomes the most important tool for reporters and election monitors alike, ECK is grappling with issues of technology misuse during elections as some politicians may use it to distort information.
Recently, during the national grassroots election for the National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya, Jane Kihara, deputy chief whip, postponed elections in some parts of Kenya using text messages.
Kihara alleged that Raphael Tuju, the party’s secretary general and foreign affairs minister, had directed her to cancel the meeting. The issue caused a lot of confusion in the media.
Julius Mokaya, a senior editor with the Standard Newspaper Group says: “The Electoral Commission should spell out regulations. Again, the electoral officials are yet to clarify whether news agencies can publish results announced by the electoral clerk on location or if they have to wait for official verification.”
In its 2002 election monitoring report on Kenya, Carter Center, based in Atlanta, U.S., recommended that the ECK should consider setting up public address systems at every polling station to announce the returns for transparency.
Almost five years later, all mainstream media in Kenya have upgraded their systems to receive cell phone images and broadcast news texts using short text messages.
Information and Communication Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo says that by next year, Kenyans might be able to vote electronically.
The government is in the process of setting up 210 e-centers in every constituency with mobile phones and Internet as part of World Bank’s $118 million project aimed at enhancing multimedia communication in rural areas.
“This could make mobile journalism possible,” says Penina Kihika, a reporter with Kenyawith Kenya News Agency.
“The mobile phone, which was initially seen as a threat to journalism, is now a savior.”