Guinea election head convicted of fraud

The head of Guinea's election commission and a senior aide have been sentenced to a year in jail for fraud during June's presidential vote.

The verdicts are likely to increase tensions ahead of the 19 September run-off, correspondents say.

The complaint was lodged by veteran opposition leader Alpha Conde, who faces ex-Prime Minister Cellou Diallo.

The vote was seen as the first democratic election in the mineral-rich West African state since independence.

The army seized power after the death of autocratic leader Lansana Conte in 2008.

Neither men were in court to hear the verdict. National Independent Election Commission (Ceni) president Ben Sekou Sylla has been in France for medical reasons since the day after the vote.

Ceni planning director El Haj Boubacar Diallo told the AP news agency that he first learnt of the sentence against him was when a journalist phoned him for his reaction.

"I was at the office all day yesterday [Thursday]. No-one from the court called me. Not even my lawyer was told about the judge's decision," he said.

The former prime minister is seen as the favourite in the run-off after gaining 44% of the first round vote, compared to 18% for Mr Conde.

"Alpha Conde knows he cannot win. So he is using his connections inside the army and inside the interim government to try to manipulate the outcome of the vote," the Ceni planning director said.

Some fear that the vote could raise ethnic tensions in Guinea as the two men come from the country's two largest communities - Mr Diallo is a Peul and Mr Conde a Malinke.

Guinea is the world's largest exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite. It also has important deposits of iron ore.

Despite its mineral wealth, the country is one of the poorest in West Africa.

The head of Guinea's election commission and a senior aide have been sentenced to a year in jail for fraud during June's presidential vote.

The verdicts are likely to increase tensions ahead of the 19 September run-off, correspondents say.

The complaint was lodged by veteran opposition leader Alpha Conde, who faces ex-Prime Minister Cellou Diallo.

The vote was seen as the first democratic election in the mineral-rich West African state since independence.

The army seized power after the death of autocratic leader Lansana Conte in 2008.

Neither men were in court to hear the verdict. National Independent Election Commission (Ceni) president Ben Sekou Sylla has been in France for medical reasons since the day after the vote.

Ceni planning director El Haj Boubacar Diallo told the AP news agency that he first learnt of the sentence against him was when a journalist phoned him for his reaction.

"I was at the office all day yesterday [Thursday]. No-one from the court called me. Not even my lawyer was told about the judge's decision," he said.

The former prime minister is seen as the favourite in the run-off after gaining 44% of the first round vote, compared to 18% for Mr Conde.

"Alpha Conde knows he cannot win. So he is using his connections inside the army and inside the interim government to try to manipulate the outcome of the vote," the Ceni planning director said.

Some fear that the vote could raise ethnic tensions in Guinea as the two men come from the country's two largest communities - Mr Diallo is a Peul and Mr Conde a Malinke.

Guinea is the world's largest exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite. It also has important deposits of iron ore.

Despite its mineral wealth, the country is one of the poorest in West Africa.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11258839

Uganda 2011 elections : King by acclamation

IN CONTRAST to the scrutiny afforded President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, has been treated kindly by international media. But that may change now that he has announced he is running for another term as president in elections due in 2011. At some point, a closer examination is due.

Uganda is not as oppressive as Rwanda and is not implicated to the same extent in the bloodletting in neighbouring Congo. But it cannot boast the same success. Peace is holding in troubled north of the country, but the economy there remains in a pitiful state. Joseph Kony, the messianic and sadistic leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, which displaced a million people in the north and butchered thousands more, remains at large. Mr Museveni takes no responsibility for that failure.

Indeed, judged by his original promises when he came to power in 1986, Mr Museveni has performed dismally. Democracy has increasingly been corroded by militarism and jawing about a liberation struggle most Ugandans are too young to remember. Achievements in macroeconomic policy have been offset by favouritism and corruption. The country is drifting at best. Mr Museveni disparages donors, but uses them to pad out his national budget. Recent oil finds in the Lake Albert basin have made him indispensable to many of those donors, but they need to think carefully about whether another five years of Mr Museveni's increasingly regal and shuffling rule could spell disaster for a country that desperately needs ideas and impetus.

At a recent Youth Day parade, Mr Museveni sought to win over angry unemployed young men with a promise to lower the retirement age in the civil service to 55 (he is 66, but would be exempt). The government might create 40,000 new jobs with the move, but that is not nearly enough for a country that needs to create 400,000 jobs each year to stand still.

Mr Museveni has been careful to prevent any younger candidates building up a power base that could challenge him. He appears determined to stay until 2016, even if it means dividing his party, alienating military commanders, and arresting opposition leaders such as Olaru Otunnu, who used to work for the United Nations. That Mr Museveni is even willing to try is a reflection of the failure of the media, human rights groups, and diplomats to push back against the dubious landslide victories credited this year to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, as well as to Mr Kagame.

Negotiations with oil companies appear to have been tough and in Uganda's national interest. But will the predicted oil revenues be used transparently? Even some of Mr Museveni's former allies have their doubts, arguing that the president has been too willing to turn a blind eye to corruption in return for political support.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2010/09/yoweri_museveni

AFRICAN ELECTIONS PROJECT RANKED INGENIOUS BY INNOVATION FAIR

The African Elections Project was selected to be a part of 33 key projects out of 223 innovative projects submitted from around the globe and joined the rest of selected projects to participate in the World Bank Innovation Fair held in South Africa from the 12 – 15 of April with one of its partners International Institute for Sustainable Development.

The main theme for the occasion was "Innovation Fair: Moving beyond conflict" with a focus on two critical challenges of development in fragile states namely Communications for Governance and Service Delivery and Conflict and Violence Prevention. This initiative is directed towards uncovering a long lasting route to peace and security across the world by soliciting ideas from participating organizations. Selected participants came from over 40 countries which included India, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Yemen, DR Congo, Guinea-Bissau and Kenya.

This African Elections Project (AEP) was chosen for its work in the area of Communication for Governance and Service Delivery because of its innovative use of social media to develop capacity and monitor governance process prior to, during and after the elections. The project leverages the free, fair and unbiased media and the crucial role they play in elections such as providing impartial information thereby contributing to peace building during elections. .

Kwami Ahiabenu II, the representative for the African Elections Project opined that "the fair provided a platform for the exchange of ideas on how to replicate one project in a different context and how to improve ideas based on experience to reduce conflict conditions or the fear of a potential conflict.

The African Elections Project is aimed at developing the capacity of the media in ICTs in elections coverage while stimulating the provision of elections information and knowledge via its portal www.africanelections.org and other new media tools. African Elections Project has so far covered elections in Ghana, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Botswana, Togo, and Namibia with planned coverage of Cote d'Ivoire, Niger and Guinea in the pipe line. The project is coordinated by the International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) working hand in hand with key partners www.osisa.org and www.osiwa.org .

Signed

Jerry Sam, Project Manager,

http://www.africanelections.org/

Twittering African Elections

African Elections Project (AEP) www.africanelections.org uses social media and new media tools to develop capacity and to monitor the governance process prior to, during and after the election. One of such myriad of tools is the use of micro blogging using twitter in a number of ways:
• Connecting with stakeholders such as politicians, political parties, elections observers and monitors, electoral management bodies, citizens and Civil Society
• Publishing SMS from our journalists and citizens journalist to a greater audience via twitter
• Using twitter in our elections news production and dissemination process
• Publishing pictures from the field via http://twitpic.com/photos/togoelections
• Using twitter to send out alerts from our Early warning system
• Publishing media monitoring output to twitter
• Dissemination of elections results from polling stations
@africanelection African Elections Project affiliates: (twittering elections in English, French and Portuguese)

African Elections Twitter http://twitter.com/Africanelection

Togo Elections http://twitter.com/togoelections

Ghana Elections Twitter http://twitter.com/ghanaelections

Mozambique Elections Twitter http://twitter.com/mozambiquevotos

Namibia Elections Twitter http://twitter.com/namibiaelection

Botswana Elections Twitter http://twitter.com/botswanaelects

Cote D'Ivoire Elections http://twitter.com/cotedivoirevote

Mauritania Elections Twitter http://twitter.com/mauritaniavoix

Guinea Elections Twitter http://twitter.com/guineaelections

Malawi Elections Twitter http://twitter.com/malawivotes2009

Overview of African Elections Project

introduction
The African Elections Project is a country-specific platform giving the capacity of the media in ICTs in order for them to use it as a tool for election coverage and the provision of elections information and knowledge. It first run in 2008 in Ghana followed later by Cote d ‘lvoire and Guinea in 2009. By March 2010, it has run this project in ten countries including Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Niger, Guinea, Mozambique, Mauritania and Togo.

It focuses on technology training for senior editors, journalists and reporters. They are also developing an election guide for journalists and civil society organizations and a mobile application to encourage citizens to engage in election monitoring.

A country-specific election portal aggregates election-related news articles, blog posts, photographs, events, and Op-Eds. Some of the countries, such as Ghana, also have detailed information about the candidates and political parties


Interview
What problem is your project aiming to overcome?:

A dearth of elections information and knowledge to aid in free and fair elections while promoting accountability and governance monitoring.
What are the roots of that problem?:

Lack of tools for elections information- and knowledge-sharing online coupled with low content generation on the continent.

Also democratic culture is relatively new in Africa, which means that supporting information- and knowledge-sharing culture is just evolving. This is true in most African countries.

There has been a slow uptake by citizen journalists to cover elections, maybe partly due to the fears elections create and also the counter-mechanisms by the competing political entities which mostly use the traditional media outlets like radio and television.

Lastly there are very few new media projects related to elections in Africa. African Elections Projects stands unique in this case.
Why did you personally become involved in this project?:

I was part of the team that conceived of the idea, therefore was part of it from day one in 2008. I have been amazed at how the project has rolled out and the possibilities of using new media it has offered.
Are you providing unofficial channels of information that should be provided by the government?:

Yes, through articles and blog postings to our web platform, especially in the area of voter education.
Why is the government not providing the information?:

We do not have any evidence to explain why such information is not provided, but we usually hear from the government that they do not have the resources to provide such information.
How does the information published on your website turn into offline change?:

It contributes to voter education and creates awareness about the electoral process. It also ensures accountability by the electoral management bodies by making them stakeholders. Information about political parties, manifestos and campaign promises invariably help stakeholders and voters make informed decisions.
How many people work on your project?:
10
How many hours a week do you personally spend on the project?:

Average 10 hours to full time during build up to elections.
How many hours does the whole team spend on the project?:

Full time for most of the team members and average of 12 hours for others.
What are the most time consuming tasks?:

Research, content generation and the uploading of content due to low bandwidth in most areas we operate from.
How do you extract value from large amounts of data? How do you build engagement around it?:

We have in house software we use to process the data plus the use of some web 2.0 tools that enable collaboration. We build engagement through enabling information and knowledge sharing.
How do you verify the identities of participants on your website?:

Contributors to our website are all registered users, so we have information about them though we do not get the information about persons posting comments since they are not required to register.
How do you attract new participants?:

Through the exchange of links, by disseminating content in our networks, and by advertising in traditional media. Also, word of mouth.
What has been the most effective method of spreading awareness about your project?:

Word of mouth through mostly online means and referrals.
What are the incentives to participate in your project?:

Contributing local content from an African prospective for the global market thus presenting the African story of elections as opposed to simply relying on foreign (non-African) online publications.
What are the biggest obstacles to your success?:

Lack of capacity by media groups to use ICT tools. This is true in all ten countries we have worked with, though of course with varying levels of capacity. But in most cases, the media is only coming to terms now with effective use of ICT tools.

Also, a lack of affordable bandwidth. I think this has been the biggest ICT infrastractural challenge. For instance in Malawi, we had to pay heavily to have even a basic connection.

Slow uptake of citizen journalism on the continent.

Democratic process - especially elections - are not yet well established in some countries hence bringing an election specific media project appears threatening to certain establishments by increasing visibility and accountability.
How do you plan on overcoming those obstacles?:

Capacity building for the media in the use of ICTS, stimulating citizen journalism, and advocating for free and fair elections.
What skills and expertise would be of assistance to your project?:

The use of ICTs in elections especially in information and knowledge sharing. Also, providing more online resources for both mainstream journalists as well as citizen journalists.
How do you plan on financially sustaining your project? :

Marketing and promoting our technical platform in the area of media monitoring, content mangament systems, and SMS to raise funds while at the same time exploring the options of advertising on our online platforms.
What other organizations are you working with?:

FrontlineSMS, Ghana Journalist Association, all Africa, Global Voices, in country news agency, electoral management bodies, MISA, SMSGH, Highway Africa, Media Foundation for West Africa, West African Democracy Radio, OSIWA, OSISA, Media Council of Malawi, Ghana Information network for knowledge sharing, in-country journalist associations.
Have you thought about developing your own tools?:

Yes, our web platform, SMS and media monitoring tools were developed in house plus we customise some web 2.0 for our use as well.

We also developed the following
1. CMS – elections portal
2. Results Manager – for presentation of results graphically, tables and maps
3. SMS System – for news production process, news broadcast and elections observations
4. Media Monitoring System
5. Video content production – customisation.

On a separate note, since we develop own own tools, we have copyright with an option to reproduce with permission.
Has there been any communication between your project and government officials?:

Yes, on regular basis, including interviews as well.
Are there any legal obstacles to your work? Any laws that should be changed?:

Freedom of information bills, when enacted, can contribute to access to information for our work.

Otherwise we have so had no legal actions against the website though we had a solicitor letter while covering Malawi Elections on content on the website.
Have there been any attempts to replicate your work elsewhere?:

We are currently worked or working in ten African countries (Ghana, Malawi, Mauritania, Togo, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana and Guinea. Otherwise AEP is original in many ways.
What other projects in your region should we know about?:

Ushadidi and in-country, elections-related websites like the Nyasa Times.
If someone gave you $10,000 how would you use the money?:

To train journalists and citizens journalist in the use of ICTs and new media while acquiring tools for them like flip cameras.
If someone gave you $100,000 how would you use the money?:

To train journalists and citizen journalists in the use of ICTs and new media while acquiring tools for them like flip cameras, satellite internet connection for our newsrooms on the go, a mobile broadcasting system, and to scale up our media monitoring platform.
What are your plans for 2010 and 2011?:

To cover 10 -15 countries having elections.
Further Questions
What metrics do you use to judge your own success?

Website:

- Usage and number of target audience reached using web metrics counted by number of visitors, where they are coming from, which websites are linking to us and repeat visitor
- Number of feedback received
- Number of reposts to other sites
How many visitors come to the AEP Portal? How many unique hits per month?

100,000. The majority of readers come from Europe and North America and are largely citizens of the countries we cover that are living abroad. Our content is reposted on other blogs, tweets, etc, and on other news organisation websites including AllAfrica.
What is the target audience?

Media, journalists, electoral management bodies, citizens and international bodies.

http://transparency.globalvoicesonline.org/project/african-elections-project

AFRICAN ELECTIONS PROJECT

African Elections Project established 2008 with the vision of enhancing the ability of journalists, citizen journalists and the news media to provide more timely and relevant elections information and knowledge while undertaking monitoring of specific and important aspects of governance

Broad based Objectives

· To consolidate the gains of democracy through active promotion of free flow of election information and knowledge as a vehicle to promote free and fair elections;

· To strengthen the media and related civil society in their role as enablers of good governance

· Developing capacity of journalists in the area of elections coverage in order to improve on

the quantity and quality of the coverage of elections issues;

· Enhance the process of information and knowledge sharing of good practices and lessons among all stakeholders involved in election monitoring process;

· Contribute to the reduction of the tendencies of violence by encouraging the media to tell both sides of the elections story

· Early warning system to alert stakeholders who may be falling into the trap of inflaming passions which can lead to violence.

· Developing media elections result centre which will service the media with key content about

the elections during the result stage;

· To develop capacity for election observations;

· To provide a central pool of relevant ICT tools for stakeholders involved in the electoral

process; and

· To create a space for dialogue between political parties and the electorate'

Building Blocks

• Training for senior editors, journalists and reporters

• SMS application in coverage and monitoring

• Election Guide for the Media

• Information and Knowledge Online Portal

• Knowledge products for the media

• Media Monitoring incorporating early warning system

Africa wide Coverage

• Ghana www.africanelections.org/ghana

• Mauritania www.africanelections.org/mauritania

• Malawi www.africanelections.org/malawi

• Mozambique www.africanelections.org/mozambique

• Namibia www.africanelections.org/namibia

• Botswana www.africanelections.org/botswana

• Togo www.africanelections.org/togo

Pending Countries

• Niger www.africanelections.org/niger

• Guinea www.africanelctions.org/guinea

• Cote d’Ivoire www.africanelections.org/cotedivoire

We planned future coverage for the following countries:

• Nigeria

• Burkina Faso

• Kenya

• Rwanda

• Uganda

• Liberia

• Burundi

• Tanzania

African Elections Project is no doubt a ground breaking project providing an important contributory role in deepening democracy and supporting the creation of open societies through capacity building for the media and other key stakeholders, while at the same time providing a unique online elections information and knowledge platform that will eventually provide transparent access to the electoral processes across the Africa.