Tech at the heart of Kenyan referendum

Its not everyday that Kenyans have the same topic on the Facebook status messages; it must have been special- yes, its about the new constitution.

It was the day that people took time to update on twitter, whine about the long queues, and report any incidences at the polling station. This made it easier for journalists attending the press conference with the electoral commission to ask questions. I actually heard two issues that were posted on twitter raised with the chair of IIEC, which was good. This means that the mainstream media is paying close attention to discussions on social media.

I think the best response was the number of volunteers who came to the iHub for the www.uchaguzi.co.ke monitoring exercise. I got to the iHub and I almost thought I was in the wrong place- thank goodness for the few Ushahidi people in; the lesson was that while so much is at stake, people are willing to do anything.

Uchaguzi is the forum for user generated content and it shows that tech has caught on.

The referendum may just be a day, but it shows the signs of things to come in the general election, which tends to spread over several days and has its own measure of controversies.

Uchaguzi team has mapped all the constituencies in Kenya, although there were some challenges with uploading the CSV file and getting the lat/longitudes, it shows that in 2012 the whole thing will be perfected.

So, if anyone has an issue to raise, whether positive or negative, am sure www.uchaguzi.co.ke is the place to do it.

Tech power!

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