So apparently, the president of Uganda can be contacted via the app, ‘Reach The President’.
The app which recently launched in Uganda was designed by two Communications students at Uganda’s Makerere University, Jessy Musaazi and Isaac Agaaba, supposedly to operate as a direct link to Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president.
The duo believes the app will rise above bureaucracy and let the president get his finger on the pulse of the people in real time.
The Ugandan presidency has not made on any statement endorsing the new app, and that perhaps is for good reasons.
The app’s crudely organic and uninspired name could be one, but that’s not half of what I think this app does not have in the bag. I honestly think “Museveni” would be a better name.
This development in Uganda may seem like Africa embracing technology to solve Africa’s problem, but nothing is further from the truth, I think it is far more efficient to have just given out a hotline, twitter handle, or a facebook page – like Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan did in the build up to the 2011 presidential election.
Moreover, if this turns to be a development supported by the president, Museveni may end up feeling the pulse of only a fragment of his population. There are estimated 8.5 million internet users in Uganda, out of a population of 37.5 million. At most, assuming all these internet users use smartphones, the president can only listen to about 30% of the populations via the app.
How likely is it that the president will personally sit at his massive presidential desk to attend all the messages sent via the app, including my “Hello Museveni”? That’s a remote possibility. So much for sidestepping bureaucracy.
There are lots of reasons I think this app is random even after leaving out the wonky build of the app itself and its seeming emptiness, but it’s not the first time we are seeing public officers float expensive ventures that do not benefit the bottomline.
We started the year with around 1,500 selfie booths across India’s capital where Delhiites could check in for a selfie with the tech-loving Prime Minister Narenda Modi.
The #SelfieWithModi campaign generated quite a buzz and depending on whom you asked, it was flatout wasteful or innovative. Most people thought Modi should have focused on building more toilets instead of selfie booths.
Reach The President app however could very well do with a reengineering and a new direction. Perhaps an app for Museveni fans with robust information on the person of Museveni, his projects, goals, his activities, his timetable (that can be shared without compromising his security), and other light and fluffy details that can make him relatable. And, er…definitely a name change. I still put my money on “Museveni”.
Photo Credit: Africa Renewal via Compfight cc
