[UgaBYTES] Rwandese poll coverage goes Hi-tech

[Mwathi Francis]

Hallo Colleagues,

While elections are meant to let the views of the citizens of a
country prevail on whom they would want as head of their government,
too often (and especially in Africa) a number of behind the scenes
events impair the integrity of the electoral process and irretrievably
pollute the results.

Widespread bribery, vote-buying, intimidation and ballot-stuffing —
compounded by defective data tabulation, transmission and tallying at
the end of the day overshadow the intended outcome.

But earlier this week one country- Rwanda- has showed us the future
isn't bleak after all. Using the Internet Protocol Teleconferencing
technology, Rwanda Television (RTV), provided live transmissions of
parliamentary polls form four upcountry areas. This move to some
extent showed how ICT can contribute toward good governance and
transparency in the democratic process.

The following is a story by Eugene Kwibuka, an editor with a Rwandese
daily newspaper-the New Times. Read on.

For the first time in the country's broadcasting history, Rwanda
Television (RTV) yesterday broadcast Parliamentary polls live from
four upcountry areas using the Internet Protocol Teleconferencing
technology.
The technology which was deployed by the Rwanda Information Technology
Authority (RITA), could be adopted for future TV coverage activities,
according to the Director General of the Rwanda Information Office
(ORINFOR), Oscar Kimanuka.

To read the whole article, go to the link below;

http://www.ugabytes.org/nod/?q=node/403



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