App brings politicians closer to the electorate

In 2018, African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) demographic analysis found that 45 per cent of people in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda are between 15—24 years, representing an obvious youth bulge, which then points to, among other things, the political power that young people potentially wield.

But report upon report point to dismal interest in politics by the youth – a cog in the wheel of progress.

That is the problem that Elvis Sitati, 26 and Daniel Nyangaresi, 27, are on a mission to resolve with Uamuzi App, which became operational in January 2019.

LINKS VOTERS TO LEADERS

“The app links voters to their leaders, encouraging political participation through mobile phone.

Citizens do not need any qualification nor are they required to pay to be on the platform, you simply download the app, register with relevant details such as your name, ward, constituency and county and then get to interact with leaders and aspiring leaders in the administrative locales near you.

If you are a leader interested in getting on the app, you register with your personal details and then upload your manifesto.

A verification is then sent for confirmation. Leaders pay Sh20,000 to get an account of the app, a one-off payment to be on the platform,” explains Daniel.

But what really is the difference between using mass media to get in touch with leaders and being on Uamuzi?

Daniel and Elvis realised that mainstream media primarily covers popular candidates or candidates who control more power either because they have been in politics for a long time or have what, in Kenya, can be viwed as a “big tribe identity”.

VISIBILITY

At grassroots level, political leaders do not get as much visibility on mainstream media, so there is need for alternative avenues for citizens to contact such leaders directly. So far, the app has over 50 leaders signed up and over 1,000 citizens.

“The idea of Uamuzi started in 2013. We were both students of Environmental Studies at Kenyatta University.

I was introduced to politics when I was in university and even worked closely with some politicians. In 2013, Elvis and I came up with a website called Contestants 2013.

There was a lot of transformation of politics into the digital space at the time and the idea of aspirants having a website with their picture and profile was taking root, so the initial idea of the website was informed by this.

The website targeted MCAs, primarily. We were also going to have the first elections under the new constitution and there was a lot that needed to be understood about governance and role of MCAs,” explains Daniel.

A series of brainstorming between them brought forth the idea of Uamuzi.

“Work on the app started in 2015, after we graduated from university. We secured Sh150,000 seed capital from KMacho, a company whose specialty is data collection and analysis.

It helped that the founders are our friends. We shared the premise of what we wanted to do with Uamuzi and they bought the idea. The funding went into getting the copyright, hiring a developer and the rest went into the logistics,” explains Elvis.

They had hoped the app would be ready by the 2017 elections, but it was up to a false start.

“In Dec 2016, the developer we had entrusted with the work backed out, and just like that, our loan of Sh150,000 went down the drain.

Faced with the reality that the developer was out and we did not have any money, we had to go back to the drawing board.

We approached different tech hubs seeking support for our idea. But it was difficult to get the person we needed because the app required very specific talents to pull off, that, or the offers we got were too expensive for a start-up.

We started looking for plan B. We stumbled upon Tech Mata, a startup made up of young people from the University of Nairobi.

They agreed to do the tech work for us for Sh150,000,” says Daniel.

In March 2017, work on the app began in earnest. Four months later, they had their first prototype (the basic functionality) ready.

From August to December 2017, the work involved improving functionality, such as the user profile SMS verification.

In 2018, they did an entire revamp to have a friendlier user interface, security features and introduced the group chats.

The app was finalised in October 2018. Their tasks are clearly laid out: Elvis ensures that the app is working, writes proposals, letters, and emails -- basically the administrative bit of running the app. Daniel works mostly on the technical side.

For example, he ensures that the features they need implemented come to life.

“I worked on many websites when I was in university, which gave me the experience of what handling the technical side means. I even managed to attend 70 per cent of my lectures, 30 per cent of the time, I was working on websites,” explains Daniel.

Apart from making money through registration, there are also advertisements on the platform that earn them revenue.

As the population on the app increases, they plan to introduce surveys as a means of earning more revenue.

Their target partners are NGOs, government institutions and political parties, the aim to have a very dynamic environment for engagement.

The app is in use all over the country, but to address the challenge of smartphone penetration in Kenya as well as the digital divide, “we are setting up a USSD so that those with no smartphones or access to the internet are also able to access basic services from the app -- while they cannot interact with the leader directly on USSD, anytime a leader says something through the app, the get it as an SMS through your phone. Uamuzi also bulk SMSes, a system where leaders can send messages directly to people's phones. For example, an MCA can send a message to his entire ward at once,” Elvis explains.

To market the app to leaders, they seek the person, usually through referrals. To non-leaders, marketing happens through word of mouth and actively reaching out to those who do not feel included in the political space, such as jobless youth who hang around in estates and matatu conductors.

“After we successfully pilot the app in Kenya, we hope to sell the idea to other African countries,” says Elvis.