University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service faculty Member Dr. Warigia Bowman has been awarded a $12,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation and the University of Pennsylvania to investigate the use of the online election platform Uchaguzi (meaning election, in Kiswahili).
As team lead, Dr. Bowman will supervise a team of eight Kenyan researchers, and one American researcher—Bob Bell of the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Grace Githaiga of the University of Nairobi will coordinate Kenyan operations. The Carnegie/University of Pennsylvania team includes Clinton School of Public Service Graduate Wambui Ngugi, who will lead the team of field researchers on the ground in Kenya.
This project is part of a larger research program on the role of information technology in state-building and peace-building in East Africa. The work for the project is being carried out by the Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) at the University of Pennsylvania and the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP) at the University of Oxford, in partnership with several institutions in Africa.
After the violence that occurred during the Kenyan elections of 2007-2008, Kenya’s government, its civil society, and its citizens expressed concern about the 2013 elections, and the potential for violence arising from inflammatory speech. Due to massive efforts by donors, citizens, the Kenyan government, and Kenyan civil society, the 2013 election was conducted peacefully.
Dr. Bowman’s research team aims to conduct a critical examination of Uchaguzi. In early 2013, a partnership of civil society organizations launched Uchaguzi, a crowd-sourcing platform designed to help Kenya achieve a free, fair, peaceful, and credible general election (Elections were held on March 4, 2013) by allowing Kenyans to monitor the voting process and report on significant incidents in real-time via text message. The Uchaguzi crowd-sourcing platform monitored trends as they were reported in real-time by citizens via text message, and highlighted instances of political violence and electoral malpractices.
Dr. Bowman will travel to Kenya in July 2014 to supervise the administration of surveys and ethnographic interviews with funders, government officials, citizens, and volunteers who participated in developing the Uchaguzi platform.
About Dr. Warigia Bowman
Dr. Warigia Bowman is an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service where she teaches Field Research Methods and the Politics of African Development in the Master of Public Service degree program. She is currently working on a book manuscript about the role of the state in diffusing information technology in four different nations in East Africa, Kenya, Uganda Tanzania and Rwanda. In March 2013, she served as an accredited elections observer for the Kenyan General Election.
Responses