SEED Samburu an non-governmental empowerment organisation through education and development has launched a unique civic education project to inform Samburu and Turkana citizens in their own language about the upcoming elections on March 4th 2013 using mobile phone.
The toll free phone number is: 0800 720644.
The caller can select from 4 menus giving more information about the Voting System, the new Constitution, the County and the County Representatives. The caller can only select 1 menu per phone call. If the caller wants to hear another menu, he or she has to call back.
The goal of this project is to build the civic voice and increase public participation in governance processes at all levels through educating the beneficiaries about their civil rights in the new constitution. The project is part of a larger programme that uses ICT tools in Samburu Primary Schools, for improved teaching, learning, management and parent involvement.
The larger Samburu District will be one county with its own government. The devolution of resources to the counties as provided for in the new constitution gives a great opportunity for the county citizens to benefit. However the vast majority of the citizens of Samburu County have no idea what is going on and what will happen. In the past they were alienated from neutral and honest information. If they want to benefit from the privileges of their county, a strong civic voice is absolutely needed to have good governance of the county. Otherwise only a few people will benefit from the new democratic possibilities and new budget available at the Samburu County level.
With this service Samburu and Turkana citizens will be empowered by neutral information to make decisions regarding to voting.
This project is approved by the Communication Commission of Kenya and implemented with support from Connect 4 Change.
