Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Uganda parties mobilise support with SMS: will Arab political parties follow the example
In Uganda, political candidates are using the Internet extensively, marketing candidates through websites while their campaign agents bombard voters with text messages on mobile phones. Nation Media reports.
Party agents say the short text messages have been effective in mobilising people to attend campaign rallies.
The ICT manager for the NRM, Ibrahim Kaliisa, said they sent out 500,000 messages during nominations and many people turned up at Kololo airstrip, saying the president had sent them personal texts inviting them to the function.
Mr Kaliisa said the NRM intends to send out over one million text messages to its campaign agents this week and more messages to voters.
Teddy Mugote, the public relations officer for independent candidate Dr Abed Bwanika, said they were sending out at least 3,000 messages daily.
Sam Akaki of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) said the party plans to send out text messages to all people who own handsets in Uganda. According to the Uganda Communications Commission, there were about 1.4 million mobile phone subscribers by September 2005.
Special Correspondent
Uganda's election campaigns are taking place in cyberspace as well, with all candidates spending handsomely on information communication technologies to mobilise votes and gain feedback from the public, especially the diaspora.
Candidates are using the Internet extensively, marketing candidates through websites while their campaign agents bombard voters with text messages on mobile phones.
The websites are a reflection of the new era of multipartyism that Uganda is embracing for the first time after 20 years of single-party politics. They have the parties' colours, symbols, catchphrases and e-albums of candidates' photos at campaign rallies.
Party agents say the short text messages have been effective in mobilising people to attend campaign rallies.
The ICT manager for the NRM, Ibrahim Kaliisa, said they sent out 500,000 messages during nominations and many people turned up at Kololo airstrip, saying the president had sent them personal texts inviting them to the function.
Mr Kaliisa said the NRM intends to send out over one million text messages to its campaign agents this week and more messages to voters.
Teddy Mugote, the public relations officer for independent candidate Dr Abed Bwanika, said they were sending out at least 3,000 messages daily.
"We want to make Uganda an IT workstation when we come to power," said Mr Mugote. Many people have been getting messages from Bwanika and wondering how he got their mobile phone numbers when they are not his supporters.
An IT consultant in Kampala said the text messages are an effective tool for mobilisation because most people assume the candidates know them and their phone numbers, hence the personal messages.
Sam Akaki of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) said the party plans to send out text messages to all people who own handsets in Uganda. According to the Uganda Communications Commission, there were about 1.4 million mobile phone subscribers by September 2005.
Joseph Ochieno of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC), said the party was actively considering reaching out to voters before they went to the polls, even with their meagre resources.
Besides text messages, candi-dates have also embraced the Internet. Most have websites to keep voters abreast with what is happening in their camps. The websites are www.bwanika.org, www.nrm.ug, www.upcparty.net and www.fdcuganda.org for Dr Bwanika, the National Resistance Movement Party, UPC and FDC, respectively.
The Democratic Party (DP) remains the only party without a website. The party's officials said their website became dysfunctional last year after they encountered problems with the company that used to host it.
John Bosco Mayiga of DP said they were trying to put up the website again, but lamented that they had missed out on the forum to mobilise votes.
The websites are regularly updated and have comprehensive information, including candidates' manifestos, speeches delivered around the country and a schedule of their campaign rallies. Most urge visitors to the websites to join their mailing lists and discussion groups as well as to post their comments.
Managers of the websites say the public is most responsive and they are recording thousands of hits per day. Mr Kaliisa said the party website records an average of 300,000 hits per day. The site has a provision for informing a friend that you support the party – typing NRM plus a phone number – then sending the message through one of the mobile phone companies.
The party, through the media centre, has also come up with a website for posting election results that will be constantly updated as the results are announced by the electoral commission.
Robert Kabushenga, director of the government Media Centre, said the website will complement the efforts of the electoral commission and provide a service for Ugandans living in the diaspora.
