Tushirikiane project: Following up on election promises to improve service delivery

Jamii Media Company Ltd

Project theme Accountability champions Citizen engagement and voice Infomediaries Intermediaries Online crowdsourcing platforms Technologies for transparency and accountability

Project type Innovation

Country Tanzania

Support £76,745

Country Engagement Developer Sanne van der Berg

“We estimate that 75% of Tanzanian MPs regularly browse Jamii Forums.” — Jamii Media

400,000

registered users in Jamii Forums

220,000

daily visits from a mostly Tanzania-based, Swahili audience

Start date
May 2016 End date
May 2017

Period: 12 months

Issue

In Tanzania, questioning your Members of Parliament or admitting challenges to your constituents, is far from every-day practice.

There is a need for mechanisms for citizens to track the implementation of election promises and hold MPs to account on their performance and for local government to increase its responsiveness.

Project

With this project, Jamii Media is trying to use its popularity, and the faith its followers have in their political neutrality, to bring citizens and Members of Parliament closer together in addressing issues affecting citizens’ lives.

In five constituencies (Bukoba, Kigoma, Nzega, Mtama, Kigamboni), workshops have taken place with the MP, local government authorities and a selection of citizens to discuss the implementation of a number of election promises and select around 5 issues that need addressing in their constituencies.

These issues are noted in an MoU between Jamii Media and the respective MP, after which the MP will work on delivering those promises within the project timeframe. Each constituency is provided with a sub-platform on Jamii Forums where documentation is shared, citizens are able to comment/discuss/ask questions, and MPs and local authorities are able to answer questions and provide updates.

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Partner

Jamii Media Company Limited is an online media company that hosts the leading user-generated content website in Tanzania, Jamii Forums. Jamii Media also hosts FikraPevu, an online news portal with articles linked to and analysis of particular discussions on Jamii Forums. FikraPevu has about 2 million social media followers, and up to 30 million page views per month. The sites are characterised by serious engagement of its users, including public and political figures, on issues that include politics, the new constitution, corruption etc.