International Association Of Independent Journalists Inc.

[IAIJ]

Mobile Revolution in Kenya


By Carol Omadie


Citizen Journalism in Kenya is "ripe" with the “Mobile Money system, which has changed how people send, receive and save money, a concept that's currently being replicated by many other countries." says Mr. Dicken Olewe of The Star Newspaper in Kenya (3 September 2012). "Concurrently, the mobile phone is leading another revolution: how people consume, share and interact with news." he said. The various mobile money systems in Kenya are M Pesa, (Pesa is Kiswahili word for money), Pesa Mkononi, Pesa Pap and Yu cash.
In Kenya smartphones are becoming cheaper and accessing the internet is becoming more affordable, allowing people to engage more in social media platforms. Kenyans are able to make video calls through Skype or voice calls with Viber at the same subscription rate without extra charge. Other social media applications such as BBM for Blackberry, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and other messengers like Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail, are also used to broadcast news as they happen and share with the local media or post in the blogs.

Figures from Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) in July 2012 indicate that mobile ownership continues to rise. About 98.8% of internet access in the country is through mobile phones and 74% of the population owns a mobile phone. The arrival of the iPad is here and citizens use this to disseminate information of interest to the public before it appears in the print media.

The Android application allows citizen journalists to easily upload their news reports to a dedicated website where readers can view the entire stream of content, or filter stories according to various categories and regions. This application enabled me to cover an accident of one of the 10 fleet of vehicles we were traveling with from Bukoba, Tanzania on July 2nd 2012 along Mai Mahiu – Narok Road at dawn around 6.00 am. Mr Eluid Mikia, the car owner and the other 3 passengers were unhurt and the insurance has compensated him.

Kenya has developed a platform to promote citizen journalism with the help of World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN IFRA's) Mobile News for Africa Grant and Training Scheme by The Star journalist and web administrator, Mr Dicken Olewe.

In the incident of witchcraft from my village, Ogada in Kisumu – Western Kenya we were able to take photos and upload to relatives in Diaspora the same minute as the fire was still burning. Mr Bonga was stoned to death and his house burnt down in 2011 because villagers claimed he was involved in witchcraft and kills young kids. A girl was found near his maize plantation after missing for couple of days and he has been a suspect for years. He lives just 1 km away from our home so I captured the scene and got a story out of it.

There are very many opportunities for citizen journalists as the Mobile News for Africa is part of a strategic partnership between WAN IFRA and (SDID) to advance media development and press freedom worldwide. In Nairobi alone, citizens are updated with traffic situations on the road through the product of citizen journalism.