One in three Kenyan adults carry a cellphone. No electronic equipment since the transistor radio has had such a tremendous impact in connecting the people, especially in rural areas where land line infrastructure is yet to reach.
Most of the progressive voices I am familiar with seem to agree that the only way to free ourselves from the clutch of totalitarian politics is by the average mwananchi becoming involved in the political process directly without the intermediation of agenda-driven civic groups or the never reliable opposition. So could the mobile phones be key to tuning in mwanachi to what is going on in his country?
A new search engine launched on January 2008 called ChaCha, might provide some pointers as to how out IT guys can take advantage of the cell phones to empower people with information. ChaCha is a search engine which unlike Google, allows users to text in their questions by dialing a number. The answer is then relayed by a texted response after staffers conduct a quick search on the computers.
Grameen Foundation, the giant micro-finance organization, is experimenting on how mobile phones could be used to help diagnose and treat crops by farmers texting-in symptoms to experts or even snapping and sending pictures of infected crop to the experts who then relay back the diagnosis and treatment through text messages.
This same formula could be used to establish centers where information on say constitutional review process could be made available to the people upon sending a text message query.
6 comments:
Cicero, I think now we are talking. These are the types of futureristic ideas I have been hoping to hear on these blogs.
Ideas that spell change by their nature. I believe that ordinary Kenyan's who live on the beatiful country sides of our great country often fall victim to causes that are normally a part of what they consider to be "entertainment".
Allow me a minute to explain what I mean. By entertainment, I mean that normally, if you travelled to a place like Voi or Kajiado or Eldama Ravine, you will quickly notice that not much goes on in terms of excitement.
People are not given the opportunities to be a part of something within their immediate communities. There are hardly any sports facilities, community centres or community facilities to cater to the hungry masses.
As a result, bars become the favorite hangout for the men while churches become the answer for women while the youth engage in all sorts of behaviour.
To go a step further, political events then become a focal point as they provide the rare opportunity for the society to come together and witness first hand how the wealthy live as well as receive the 'gospel of success'.
Now, for an individual whose mind is not very developed or challenged, he buys into the cheap propaganda and believes it because the man spreading it is rich and posseses the material assets to back up his message. The man can be forgiven to ignore all the allegations levelled against this politician because he hardly ever goes to nairobi nor does he understand what this corrupt man is indirectly or directly denying him.
As a result, we have a large population of citizens who live a mundane life full of unemployment, disenfranchisement and a lack of purpose.
They end up becoming tools in the game and lose their lives fighting battles which are not worth fighting.
Therefore, I think that progressive 'Obamalike' kenyans should consider delivering the message of hope and change to this kenyans through easy and simple media such as mobile phones.
Such tools can be used not to spread propaganda but to create a forum where community issues can be addresses, sports events organized and community projects initiated.
We can slowly and surely influence one person at a time, one village at a time, one region at a time. The problem is that it would take a very well laid out and structured organization to be able to manage this kind of idea.
This would take alot of money and planning and I am not pretending to have such expertise.
I think your idea is awesome and hopefully more kenyans can follow this trend. Kudos!!!!
Terrific contribution, Anon 1:32
As far as your concern for the organization and financial backbone required to see through these ideas, I believe with a good message and a solid foundation and vision, we can recruit the support of a lot of people.
You don't even have an idea how many Kenyans are rooting for their country to succeed only that they don't know how to contribute or whom to trust. Give Kenyans a good cause and a reason to trust you and they will back you 100%
So that challenge is not insurmountable; once we get enough traffic going, I am going to lay out a plan I feel could be useful in getting a movement going.
"So could the mobile phones be key to tuning in mwanachi to what is going on in his country?"
You get me up and interested when you talk of by-passing the (un)civil society clowns. Anything that can do that is worth a try.
The cell phone is a fully loaded weapon. And dangerous. But it has been used to good political effect especially in Asia. Since I dont trust everything I read off of my cell phone, I figure the usual disclaimers apply:
A txt message can be easily dismissed as baseless rumor if the message is not backed by a well-recognized authority to grant it some legitimacy and to link it to an author who can be held accountable for its content. This is not trivial. I remember the PEV days when a whole Kenyan/US professor told he recieved a message that the Pentagoons had been detained. Being ODM-inclined, he believed it and was very visibly agitated. Besides his close friends, he couldnt identify where exactly the Text originated from. Stupid idiot. I didnt believe for I couldnt trust anything I heard at that time, unless it was Aljazeera and like, with nary a vested interest in the outcome. But I guess there MUST be ways of working around this, no?
In sum, a cutting edge idea well worth a try. I just like the thought of being able to advocate for a new form of leadership or to keep a tab on the current Coalition circus in a more direct and intimate way, INSTANTLY to MANY people who can also RESPOND, INSTANTLY! Very exciting.
B, we are not the only ones enthralled with the idea of taking the message directly to the people; but do not think for a moment that the usual "middle men" who have curved out careers by supposedly representing the people will take it laying down. Look what Ambassador Rennenberger is already running into:
"Ranneberger has been mobilising youth groups across the country — and bypassing MPs — to pressurise Government on constitutional reforms"And before long the hawks swoon in and the ambassador barely has time to react:
"I am supporting youth to exert pressure on politicians to start initiating reforms. Politicians fear pressure from the electorate and I think this initiative will work,"The average Kenyan has been complacent in fighting for his rights because he believes that there are others out there who are doing it on his behalf...the are people who get paid to fight for his rights! In turn this has given rise to the "protest industry" consisting of the (un)civil society groups and other entities and individuals who portend to know when we should agree with policies, when we should rise up and protest, whom we should like, whom we should stone etc.
Gabriel Dolan wrote a few weeks ago about the need for such kind of a movement and in my response, I indicated the crucial role the the Kenyan diaspora or the cyberspace Kenyans can play in such a movement as a more informed and a more "networked" demographic. We may not have votes but there sure are ways in which we can make our voices heard.
I have a rough sketch of how we can do that. I am not sure if putting it on this blog will generate enough interest to get something going. Neither do I want to approach this as individual effort, more heads = more grey matter.
Cicero,
I'm least bothered by the brokers. They are predictable (and silly). Plus we dont have any money for them to want.
I'm more worried about how to deliver a text message that can be trusted and that can in turn lead to some positive action. Father Dolan might have some ideas on this? I'm much humbled by him too.
And do put your ideas on the blog--like-minded people will find you.
B, here is part of my correspondence with Fr. Dolan in which I outline what I think is a practical approach to starting if not a movement, a pressure group with the ability to influence
policies.
___________________________________
Father Dolan,
I am very much in agreement with the sentiments you raised on your article which appeared on the Nation 03/21/2009 and thank you for writing it. You couldn't have expressed better the inadequacies of aid organizations as a permanent solution to poverty. Yet some of us still opt to take that route only because it is the little that we can do, well aware that it is not even close to THE SOLUTION (www.wahomefoundation.com ).
I had the honor of working for Barack Obama since the lonely days of the primaries up until the final lap to victory. What that experience has taught me, as you seem to acknowledge in your article, is that all societies have a decent silent majority and whether a movement succeeds or not, depends on how well that demography is tapped into.
Clearly we have widespread discontent with the current leadership. My fear is that, as it has always happened, this righteous indignation might get exploited by politicians to serve their selfish ends. All it would take is one man with a lot of money and a bullhorn, echoing the disaffection.
Do we have enough men and women of good will and sufficient patriotism to not just sit and wish for a movement but to get up and be the foot soldiers of it? I wish I could say that the answer is a definite "yes" but I am not sure. In your article you did indicate the need for such a movement to be locally financed - I am assuming you have in mind a people driven campaign such as the one Obama put together. There are obvious obstacles to this; the first one being that as willing as they might be, the poor Kenyans whom the movement is meant to serve will not be able to finance it. My thought is that with the involvement of the middle class, professionals and businessmen of goodwill, there might be a semblance of a financial foundation.
But what I think would be the real engine of such a venture is Kenyans in the diaspora. I know how involved most Kenyans abroad are with the affairs of their country, I know how they long to make a difference, I know how they each year remit money to their mother country in billions...I know because I am one of them.
Especially with the victory of Obama fresh on their minds, Kenyans in the diaspora will throw their full weight behind a cause just as long as they believe in it.
I remain thankful to all people who fight for what is right,
(my name)
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