Social Media for Social Change: Administering a Constituency Watch Space

October 2014

Written by Bernie Ward with Kiss Brian Abraham

Based on Constituency Watch spaces designed by KBA Innovations with support from Hivos and Freepress Unlimited.

Permission is granted for reproduction and use of these materials for educational purposes. Please acknowledge your source when using the materials and notify the Zambian Governance Foundation.

© Zambian Governance Foundation 2014

Zambian Governance Foundation 9 Mansansa Close, off Bwinjimfumu Road,Rhodespark, Lusaka, ZambiaPostal address: Post.Net Box 381, P/Bag E 891, Lusaka, ZambiaTel: +260 211 239 413 Fax: +260 211 238 380 Web: www.zgf.org.zm

© KBA Innovations 2014

Contents6. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SOCIAL CHANGE 7. What is a Constituency Watch?

8. Laying The Foundations

10. Running The Constituency Watch

11. Show people how to use Facebook on different apps

12. Growing followers and your Constituency’s Active Citizens

13. Leading up to elections: developing local agendas and social contracts

13. Making visible the invisible

14. Annex 1: The benefits of social media for facilitating social change

14. Annex 2: Codes of Conduct

15. Annex 3: What kind of content can go on a Constituency Watch?

Constituency Watch page is a unique application of social media to Aempower the citizen voice and

improve 'feedback loops' between people and their elected representatives. The Constituency Watch pages are: helping people to learn more about what is going on in their communities; enabling them to put forward their opinions and upload photos that show a community issue that needs to be addressed; helping them become part of a change process; and linking people to their local councillors and Members of Parliament (MPs). They are not run by councillors, MPs or any political party; they are non-partisan; and they are independent. Using Facebook as a medium for citizen/MP communication has a number of benefits it (a) equalises status (b) puts all communication in the public domain as part of the public record and (c) allows real-time communication on 'hot' issues.

In the past only corporate lobbying groups and media owners had the means to put effective pressure and publish photo-stories. Using Constituency Watches goes some way to democratising the ability to publish, disseminate and access information that directly affects the quality of life of constituents. It also enables ordinary citizens a means to prioritise issues of concern to them and bring them directly to the attention of the people paid to represent their interests.

It is difficult for the ordinary citizen to find a space in which to engage government. Zambia has a huge rural-based population with limited resources and infrastructure,

and a centralised governance system where MPs spend most of their time in Parliament rather than in their constituencies which are too vast for them to travel across regularly. It is therefore difficult for MPs to keep up-to-date on what is happening in their areas and to interact with their constituents.

MPs cannot rely on formal media sources to keep them aware of what is happening on the ground, since traditional media sources rarely reach out to communities and are not always objective in how they disseminate information. Additionally, the media may not always be impartial in how it presents information – and is certainly in the hands of more powerful people who can choose what to present, and what to leave out.

Social media (the internet, mobile phones, Twitter, Facebook) has therefore the potential for strong outreach and to be a powerful equaliser – allowing citizens from all parts of society to communicate with one another with greater equality, their legitimacy to do so based on the content of their discussions, rather than on their social status or tribe. Whilst access to the internet is still limited in Zambia, access to mobile phones is increasing and Facebook platforms can be accessed on mobile phones and so the Constituency Watches enable 'hot information' (information that is entirely up-to-date) to be made available to all that view it – including councillors and Mps.

Lack of literacy and confidence in the English language are challenges in a country that has 72 dialects, a weak basic

education system and a huge geographic spread. Local radio stations are, on this basis, a good means of outreach to the most marginalised groups since they broadcast in vernacular and have a wide reach.

Communication using social media also provides challenges as it is usually conducted in English, a language not all rural Zambians are comfortable with. To mitigate this, social media can encourage the use of non-text based submissions such as photos and videos so that groups with little or no education can explain their own context orally.

This not only helps to give citizens the confidence to say something about their situation – it also makes sure that the full situation is understood by others reviewing the submission, since it is often the voice and perspective of those who are marginalised or illiterate that is missed out. This is particularly important because many CSO practitioners feel they need to speak on behalf of people on the assumption that they are not able to articulate their views. Training people from marginalised backgrounds in the use of a camera or video and building their skills and confidence to tell their own stories can help people from marginalised groups engage fully in the process.

Where social media is teamed up with independent local radio stations and active civil society organisations, the impact can be powerful – as they reach out to the most marginalised people in their own local languages. The key thing however is that neither the radio station, nor the CSO, should try to speak on behalf of those most

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

Constituency Watches are Facebook pages that have been set up for each and every constituency in Zambia.

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marginalised people – but instead they can create spaces and opportunities for people to engage directly themselves in the process.

When Constituency Watches link through to Crowdmap tools (see page 11), as well as to sites that enable citizens better understand their rights (see ZGF's Social Accountability & You site www.say-

zambia.org) there is a strong basis for mobilising a critical mass towards being active citizens capable of bringing about real change in communities.

Working with internet means we can cost-effectively mobilise 'the many'.Working with SMS means that you can include the participation of those without internet access Working face-to-face (f2f) means that we can include the participation of those without phones- Working with images means that we can include the participation of those who are print illiterate.

Working with images means that we create discussion groups with people of mixed education and literacy. Working in a visual medium creates a more level playing field for discussion between mixed groups.

Using photos images familiar from ordinary peoples' daily lived reality to focus discussion means that discussion starts from subjects that participants have 'expert' knowledge of so people who might otherwise be intimidated from speaking can practice voicing their concerns and being heard.

Tony Roberts?

What is a Constituency Watch?This How-to guide on Constituency Watches shows how they can be used by communities to link together people from all social groups to have a stronger voice as they mobilise together to bring about the changes they want to see.

he tool is also useful to councillors who are serious about serving Ttheir constituency and who want

to stay up-to-date on the issues affecting citizens on a daily basis. This tool is not only useful prior to elections – though of course this is when debate gets hotter! Instead, the Constituency Watches enable citizens to engage with duty bearers throughout the year.

Citizens show photos to duty bearers of their concerns – the flooded road, the

piling up rubbish, the dangerous building. In turn, duty bearers share stories and photos on the progress in bringing development to their community – how the Constituency Development Funds have been allocated, the improvements at the local clinic, meetings to negotiate settlements to problems with, for example, road contractors. Both citizens and duty bearers propose meetings and duty bearers provide contact details so they

can stay in touch.

The steps to setting up and running a Constituency Watch are straight forward and there are strong stories emerging of success in its application. However for the site to thrive it needs to be enthusiastically fed with stories by a wide array of people – hence the steps here to help you build a vibrant Constituency Watch and a thriving community.

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Laying The FoundationsOnce you know you want to be involved in a local Constituency Watch, the first step is to:

Set up the domain

irst check if a space for your constituency is already up and Frunning with messages going on it

– if there is one already set up then just make contact with those administering it. If there isn't one already set up, then setting up the domain is simple since it has been done for you – simply contact Kiss Abrahams at flipside@iconnect.zm

Once you have been given the space to administer, you then need to find some friends! You cannot do it alone- no matter how clever, well-connected, nice, funny, popular you are, you are ultimately only from one part of the constituency, of one gender, from one age-group, one social banding, one religion and mostly likely, supporter of one particular political party. For this reason you need to reach out to other people since the Constituency Watch needs to cover and represent the needs of the WHOLE constituency, not only part of it. For this reason you need to BUILD SOCIAL CAPITAL across the whole area – so make sure that your Administration Team is from across the entire constituency.

Building the Administration Team

ach Constituency Watch needs an Administration Team to help Emoderate it, spread the word,

engage with all the parts of the constituency, answer enquiries and so on. A thriving Constituency Watch Administration Team needs to be able to make sure there is outreach across the

whole community.

Constituencies in Zambia cover a wide geographical distance and in urban areas this wide span can also mean diversity in the characteristics of the population. You will find middle income homesteads and highly under-privileged communities living within the same constituency. There may also be commercial entities operating within a constituency and forming a community of residents. This diversity means that residents will have different development needs, expectations and priorities.

An effective administration system for a Constituency Watch page should reflect this diversity as should the page content. It is particularly important to draw in women to the Administration Team and the Group of Friends (Kanyama Constituency Watch, for example, is mainly uploaded by women) - so that they are encouraged to use this space as much as men.

Seeking administrators from diverse backgrounds also means that people from within their 'friends' lists will also be made aware of the page.

The team only needs 6-10 people in it – not too many to coordinate, but not too few in case there is too much responsibility sitting with those few. You want very keen people with an eye for a good story – and one that knows what makes people 'tick' – what people are thinking, what will get them active, what will make the MP step forward and the councillor be happy you shared her

phone number with people.

It is really important that the team includes supporters from different political parties, or no political parties –from the start, otherwise it risks being biased and or perceived as that by the community and as a result it will fail.You may also want to include in this team – or in the wider Group of Friends at least – a few people who can BRIDGE SOCIAL CAPITAL – this means connect the people in the area with people outside their normal social groups to enable them to have stronger influencing and connecting power. This may mean pulling in a few councillors or important business people. Or it might mean making sure a few well-connected professionals – such as lawyers, larger NGOs– are involved.

Build a committed group of interested “friends” – these are the people who know lots of other people, can encourage others to use the site, who put up posters in their places of business, or speak about the site in public places. These people are respected and liked in their community and are sociable – the list could include hairdressers, priests, teachers, corner shop staff, community activists and leaders, councillors, and so on – basically the more people they know

The role of the Administrators will be to:

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and talk with the better! It doesn't matter if they are not very active on the internet or Facebook – as long as they know what it is (!!) and can talk about the Constituency Watch passionately. Again be sure to outreach across the neighbourhood to all parts and social groups – and to make sure that women are strongly represented.

Of course you could just email them and link them to the Facebook page – however this is about people, about Active Citizenship and community.

Community is built through relationships and mostly ones that are not only virtual – so it is best to go to talk to the people you want to pull in. Perhaps hold a mapping session with your Administrators to identify the key 'friends' you want to have as public spokespeople for your Constituency Watch space (the hairdressers, teachers etc). Once you have mapped who you want involved and who from your Administrators can help you link to them, you can then set a target and timeframe across which each person is contacted in person to be introduced to the idea of the Constituency Watch and then brought on board to help promote it. So – if there are 6 in the Administration Team and each has to invite 5 of those key people you collectively identified as potential 'friends' then that means that 30 people will be drawn in to become public promoters of the site. And since you are all 'movers and shakers' this will be a strong foundation on which to build your Constituency Watch.

Elite capture – as you grow the Administration Team and the Group of Friends, there is one word of caution: a real threat to a Constituency Watch is that it can be hijacked by vested interests. How can you stop political party cadres using it for sectarian purposes - to attack their enemy or to get their chief elected? One method of

doing this is to clearly state from the onset that people administering the page will not be cadres. Another is to very actively make sure you are reaching out and including people from all political parties. This issue is so important it is even highlighted in the Code of Conduct in Annex 2.

Publicity – when you have your Administration Team and your Group of Friends, you will want to provide these people with the written and drawn materials to build their confidence to be strong advocates of the Constituency Watch. This is all before you have even launched your space! The following will be helpful:

· A poster set up at key places, perhaps with strips you can pull off to show the Constituency Watch address that people can take with them;

· A short speech that a councillor/priest/aerobics teacher can read out during a public meeting to explain the space to their audiences

· A logo that reminds people constantly to visit their Constituency Watch space – some of these materials can be secured directly from

The launch – how do you want to launch the Facebook site? Gathering together some good photos and stories, and getting your network to agree to all be very active in the first few days will help to get the momentum going. Do you also want an event at the community level? Is there one coming up that would seem appropriate? Or should it be through lots of different small events across a month or so? Think it through – reaching large groups of people in public spaces that are

flipside@iconnect.zm

trustworthy can help to make people see your site as legitimate and credible.

You will certainly want to email out to all the contacts of the Administration Team and the Group of Friends on the day the site is launched. You may also want to have formal email communication with local councillors, the MP, the NGOs and CSOs, the churches and so on, that operate within the area, to get them engaged in the process.

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he excitement sets in as you start to see real change taking place – Tand your fellow community

members start acting like Active Citizens!

There are many activities that the Administration Team can do to improve flow on the space. Firstly, by uploading many posts themselves, they can set the tone of the page and make people feel comfortable about posting things up there. Secondly, they can moderate the space in a respectful manner – avoiding humiliating anyone, through editing text where necessary to keep within the overall Code of Conduct and maintain the respectful nature of the space. See Annex 1 for an outline of issues to look at in a Code of Conduct.

They can also:

Set the tone for the Constituency Watch space. There is very little flexibility in terms of page design; Facebook maintains strict page parameters. However, the page profile image and the top banner can be changed to suit the needs of the administrators. It is important to pick images carefully so as not to offend groups, while at the same time be attractive to as many people as possible.

Increase Constituency Watch members' observation skills.

Running The Constituency WatchOnce the space has been set up, then the fun and the ongoing work begins.

The users of the Constituency Watch site need to become very good observers – good at spotting a photo opportunity, noticing a problem or a solution, having an eye for a story. Creating opportunities for people to practice becoming good observers is one role for the Administration Team: photo competitions, Spot the Difference photos with before and after shots, story-telling – perhaps even just a simple request to Constituency Watch members to start 'watching' as they wander around their area.

Boost the post. There will be cases where Administrators will want to increase the exposure of the page to other users of Facebook. Facebook provides an advertising facility which can be paid for in varying payment plans according to the needs of the team. You can advertise the whole page, or advertise a specific post. You can also choose the extent of the reach within a given period of time For example, to reach 3000 people within a month.

Higher exposure is expected to result in more 'page likes'. The people who get attracted to the page through the advert and like the page will then start receiving updates from the page. In order to be able to pay for adverts, administrators must either have valid credit cards enabled to make online purchases or other online payment systems such as Paypal etc. Don't worry, however – it is not absolutely essential to boost your

posts; it is just a very useful tool to have at key moments to grow your 'likes'.

Respond to queries. When citizens put up questions it is important someone answers them – it is likely that in the early days this will need to be someone from the Administration Team. You will need the phone numbers of all the councillors and the MP to hand – and also other key contacts such as the Constituency Office, so that you can help to inform the citizens of where to go to make complaints etc. Once the Constituency Watch page becomes well known for this service, people will naturally turn to the page when they have a problem.

Keep the input balanced so that it is not all good news or bad news, or all from only one ward or only the rich/poor parts of the community. For ideas and examples from actual Constituency Watches on how to encourage interesting, engaging, entertaining and effective content, have a look at Annex 3. What kind of content can go on to a Constituency Watch?

Keep track on progress. You will be able to do this as Administrators through the weekly pages that Facebook emails to you on how things are going.

Growing understanding of what the site is for. The Management Team and others can upload at different points small pieces that help citizens to know more about how to use the site and their rights:

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· Munali Constituency Watch 12 November 2013

Please feel free to post any issues that are of relevance to the residents

of Munali Constituency, so that our elected leaders can know about

them. This platform is for public record. If you post your concerns here,

our elected officials will have no excuse of "not knowing" about the

issues. We seriously intend to make our existence known to our absentee

area MP, Prof. Nkandu Luo and all the Councillors in Munali Constituency.

We believe that a good number of them have Facebook enabled phones,

apart from desktops and tablets, which they can use to access our page.

We want them to work for the allowances and salaries they are getting at

our expense as tax payers. They volunteered for those public jobs, so

they must work for the money and not just pretend to work. We deserve

to be adequately represented by them. No excuses such as "busy

national schedule" will be accepted. They must make time for us and not

just claim allowances from the Council or Parliament. A wonderful day to

you all.

· Munali Constituency Watch 27 June 2014

Having any concern about public service in Munali constituency? Is it

poor sanitation, police intimidation, absence of attention at health

institutions, inaccessible educational services or injurious media

coverage? Solutions can be found through this forum. Share to get heard.

· Livingstone Constituency Watch 27 MayWhat is new in Livingstone Constituency... Any problems, challenges or troubles... Have your say now...

· Munali Constituency Watch 17 February 2014Dear Munali Constituency Watchers, share with us the names of Councillors you wish to win the following awards:Best Councillor over-all Munali ConstituencyBest Councillor at Communication and responding to issues raised (Most Receptive).Most Visible Councillor in the ward.

he Pages Manager helps administrators connect with their Taudience and keep up with activity

on multiple pages, all in one place.

With the Pages Manager app you can do the following: Post updates and photos and respond to comments as your Pages View and reply to private messages sent to your Pages

Option to get push notifications for new activity, tips and reminders View your latest Page Insights Turn push notifications on or off for each Page Upload a photo to a specific album Attach a photo to a status update

With the Pages Manager App, more than 40 pages can be managed from a smartphone or tablet. You can check Page activity, share with your audience and see insights. However, no matter how good the apps are, people may still need a little help

Show people how to use Facebook on different apps

knowing where to get them from and how to use them – so do identify the most IT-literate within your Administration Team and ask them to run mini-trainings for your friends so that everyone feels very comfortable using it.

It is expected that over-time “netizens” (people who use the internet to be able to be active citizens) in Zambia will begin to use crowdmapping platforms for their

Link the data generated on the Constituency Watches to Crowdmaps

When using mobile devices to manage Facebook pages, you may download the Facebook pages manager app from the android store, apple store or the windows app store within the device.

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information needs. Crowdmaps are maps on the internet where people can upload information to show where something happened. The information comes from citizens, not from researchers or 'experts'.

For example, one page on a crowdmap could map instances of deforestation or environmental problems (see the Environmap produced by Environment Africa Trust (EAT) on

/), another page could map Gender-Based Violence (see the Harrassmap that is used in Egypt, India and other countries

/), whilst another page maps torture (see the TortureMap produced by SACCORD on

Alternatively, a single map with multiple issues on it can capture all the issues in a particular area (see the New Zambian's Interactive Map of Public Social Accountability Monitoring

).

www.say-zambia.org/crowdmaps/enviromap

www.harassmap.org/en

www.say-zambia.org/crowdmaps/).

www.crowd.newzambian.com

This is the approach being encouraged across the Constituency Watch spaces so that this one map can house all the issues on one single map. The diverse content from all constituency watches as it is received will then be arranged according to thematic areas. This strategy then helps to centralise content from the 150 diverse pages existing on Facebook that would otherwise be difficult to find. Additionally the map will allow citizens to map separately the details of the Local Agendas they get electoral candidates to sign up to, for example, by simply allowing one of the categories on the map to be a Local Agenda category.

Unfortunately, low internet connectivity and

· Livingstone Constituency Watch 18 May

Dear Constituency Watchers, all our reports are now appearing on

a crowd map alongside reports from other constituencies on

www.crowd.newzambian.comthis map is a platform for

participatory governance, accountability monitoring,

whistleblowing and holding power to account! Reports are

arranged according to thematic area and provide a clear picture of

development themes.

the way in which people use the internet remains a barrier to consistent use of tools like crowdmaps. Most people use mobile phones to access websites and maps do not work so well on phones, unless you have an android phone or an i-phone to which you have installed an ushahidi crowdmap. However, the current mapping system is expected to undergo an upsurge in Zambia when more people begin to use Constituency Watch pages in rural areas. As the Administration Team starts to upload on to the crowdmap from their Constituency Watch pages, over time a three dimensional development picture will evolve of the status of constituencies. By the end of 2015, it is hoped that the map will be an invaluable data source for various purposes.

n addition to shaping the kinds of stories that a Constituency Watch Icontains, the Administrators will need

to make a deliberate effort to grow its followers. In the set up stages, the selection of the Administrators, recruitment of the Groups of Friends and the Launch will help to get you so far. Competitions – for best photo or best councillor, for example, are other approaches that galvanise interest. As does setting a target for the number of people you want to reach and asking for help in getting to that target. Celebrating success when you get there is also very important!

Growing followers and your Constituency’s Active Citizens

The Munali Constituency Watch was set thup on the 11 October 2013 and by the

th5 November it had already achieved 90 likes. As of the end of September 2014 it achieved 2779 likes – this means that of all the people who have opened the page to read it, 2780 of them have then clicked 'like' and as a result they will now be 'following' the Munali Constituency Watch Facebook page, receiving updates and news stories as they are posted. The aim for Munali Constituency Watch is to grow to a following of 5,000 (that is, 5,000 likes) by 2016 since they feel that this is the critical mass of awareness that will ensure that the local duty bearers –

MPs and Councillors – will take the space and its followers seriously.

To grow your followers you can encourage those already following your page to spread out more widely to their friends – then celebrate success as you go along, as Munali has:

Munali Constituency Watch

12 November 2013

We've done it! Thank you so much

for the fantastic response. You are

all wonderful. At the time of writing

this post, we had reached 109 likes

of Munali Constituency Watch. We

thought that we'd only achieve the

100 likes goal by Friday this week,

when we initiated the appeal for

likes last Saturday, however, the

response has been overwhelming.

Since we have broken the 100 likes

barrier by far, we s

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his makes the year before an election a very good time to set up a TConstituency Watch space and to

start to link citizens with the candidates. The same way random citizens are coming together on Constituency Watches to make real changes to their communities is the same way civil society organisations could capitalise on the Constituency Watch space to encourage citizens to influence electoral candidates to sign up to a Local Agenda. A Local Agenda –or Social Contract - is a document that lists the key priorities that the citizens of the constituency want the electoral candidates for their area to commit to. Civil society organisations may have particular issues they feel are priorities

Leading up to elections: developing local agendas and social contractsLeading up to elections is when prospective councillors and MPs are most likely to be in your constituency, meeting people, answering questions, making offers and basically engaging.

around which they mobilise local citizens – perhaps health issues, or crime, or education. However the citizens themselves need to also define their own priorities. A Constituency Watch is a great tool for mobilising debate on a Local Agenda, pulling together information and perspectives on priorities, perhaps even holding a physical and an on-line survey on constituency priorities, and so on. Once the local agenda is identified – you can then get the candidates to a public event to debate it and make their commitments/pledges to sign up to it.Any civil society organisation, or concerned active citizen, can lead on pulling a local agenda together – the main ingredient is

that as many people as possible are engaged so there is wide ownership of the resulting Local Agenda. This is where the Constituency Watch becomes very valuable: as a tool for outreach and creating the critical mass that can ensure stronger political will and support for the Local Agenda.The Constituency Watch could then, post-election – monitor the extent to which the successful candidate delivers on the pre-election commitments made. A Crowdmap is a particularly useful tool for monitoring commitments made and the extent to which they are delivered on by councillors and the MP.

e tend instead to notice the

new, the thing that has Wchanged. However, to resolve

problems that have been around for a long

time, we need to make visible the invisible;

to shine a spotlight into those dark corners. We first need to start noticing them again ourselves, raising our own awareness of the

issues, debating amongst ourselves to grow our own understanding of them. Only then can we be ready to start showing them to the councillors and MP who can join us in taking action to sort them out. Constituency Watch spaces allow citizens the space to do just that – notice issues, raise awareness, deepen their common understanding on them, and in the process,

build up the confidence and commitment to bring about change. As we build our awareness and observational skills we will also gradually increase our credibility to influence duty bearers: we will have formed a critical mass that our Councillors and MPs will find very hard to ignore.

Making visible the invisibleWalking through our communities, as we have done all of our lives, we often fail to notice the 'everyday' things around us – they have after all always been there.

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Annex 1: The benefits of social media for facilitating social change

Annex 2: Codes of Conduct

A Code of Conduct does not need to be made explicit on the Constituency Watch space – it will evolve over time. The tone however is set by the posts you allow to be posted, how the Administrators introduce the site and share it and promote it – and of course by how you moderate the site. The key elements of a code that the Administrators would need to agree and manage by could include:

Non-partisan – do not allow party politics or vested interests to become an issue. Allow involvement from all parties and for all types of issues to be raised. Where discussions on the site have become one-sided (e.g. pushing for election of a particular candidate) encourage other views and perspectives to also emerge to enrich the debate and analysis available.

Focus on facts - to ensure that all stories are factually correct Constituency Watches includes providing exact locations of incidents that are being reported and where possible photographic evidence.

Open to all and transparent – anyone can upload on to the site and their content is only moderated (which means changed or removed) if it breaks the code of conduct in some way.

Respect private privacy – this means not using the page to show photos or stories that would not be ethical to show – such as naming local citizens who are involved in inappropriate relationships etc.

Do not be abusive – this means do not make personal attacks on individuals. Instead provide clear facts on issues. However, you can question why an MP has not been available for a while, or why a councillor has not taken action on an issue.

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· Munali Constituency Watch 3 April 2014

Mully Victoria Chipeta has written on our wall: Hello, I am from Kamanga over-spill 3 and some grader has

been working on that road from District to Mutumbi, to be honest, the guy has been doing nothing but

pretend to be working, all he does is run the grader, but doing nothing, I hope someone checks on him.

· Munali Constituency Watch 17 May· 2014

We have asked about the situation at the corner of Market St. And Palm Drive roads right at Chelstone Big

Market. The welders and timber sellers have taken over the road and both pedestrians and motorists are

finding it hard to navigate around these traders who when it's raining, will even pitch tents on the road.

Councillor Richard Sakala has given us assurances before the last of which was some time last year but we

are still seeing no difference. Who do we need to investigate to understand this impunity?

· Munali Constituency Watch 10 March 2014

School plot allocated to a car wash business ... How? A community member, Teresa Mutumba, has

posted this on our Facebook page: To whom it my concern .... Like me..... What is happening in Munali

Ward 33... at Kaunda Square Primary School sports grounds ... a car wash is being constructed ..... who

authorised this plot really? In the school grounds ....

This requires the attention of Munali Ward 33 Councillor, Mr. Robinson Kalota, who is on cell number 096-

675-2525. Teresa, please text or give him a call and update us.

A Photo Speaks a Thousand Words – allow anyone to upload photos, or videos, with or without text. Photographs can be a particularly powerful media since they also can include groups that lack the ability to write descriptive notes on their development demands. Videos and photographs of people's interests and contexts can depict pressing issues – capturing more information in a more emotive way than text can. We haven't copied any of the great photos on the different Constituency Watch pages into this How to guide since we didn't want to make the file too large for you to easily download – but a quick glance through the Constituency Watch pages and you will see just how impactful the photos are. Remember that the people most able to put photo-stories on the internet are the relatively affluent, urban, literate, well educated, internet connected, camera owning class. So how do you prevent the outcome that those who ultimately benefit most from Constituency Watch are the local elites? One way is to develop activities in the community that specifically reach out to less advantaged people and run workshops/activities with marginalised groups that can build their observation/journalism skills so they can tell their own stories. Some projects have distributed cameras to young people to facilitate such a process.

· Munali Constituency Watch shared Abdon Yezi's video. 12 December 2013

A member of the community, Abdon Yezi, submitted this video on the controversy over the Mtendere East

Bridge or bridges construction. Residents from that part of the Munali Constituency have complained

about delayed completion of the project, which has been funded using the Constituency Development

Fund (CDF). We wonder what is going on with this CDF, which is K1.3 million per annum. Garbage trucks

are bought and they break down within a few months. Is this not a waste of funds? Who benefited from

the supply contract? Did the trucks come with a guarantee?

What about the issue of these bridges? Who benefited? Why is the work shoddy? Is it time for

investigative wings to move in? Or, should the MP explain what happened? To whom is she accountable

for CDF? The residents or her fellow councillors?

Annex 3: What kind of content can go on a Constituency Watch?

The site can cover anything that you think will be entertaining and interesting for people in the Constituency. An important aim is to increase

the number of 'likes' on your page since those who like your page will then receive updates sent through to them via Facebook. So the

page needs to be interesting, entertaining or very relevant to their wellbeing in some way. Here are the types of stories that some

Constituency Watches have found of interest to their readers:

Citizens as the eyes and ears of the duty bearers:Citizens can report things because duty bearers cannot always be there to see the problems;

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You could hold a competition to encourage people to take pictures and upload them – perhaps do this to build up early interest but then again later on since it is unlikely many people will engage in it when there are limited followers of the site. This media can be particularly effective for youth who while being more techno savvy with social media, may lack the confidence to engage in a public meeting or forum, or even to upload text on to a Constituency Watch page.

Competitions to get people active

Posted on Munali Constituency Watch Facebook page on th25 November, only 2 months after they had launched the

site.

Munali Constituency Watch ran a photo competition from the 9th

to the 16th of November 2013. We wanted to look at Munali Constituency

through the eyes of its residents. We offered a token of appreciation of K50

to the winning entry. We are inviting the Munali Constituency Watch

Community to vote for the winning entry of the five we received within the

period. Voting closes this Thursday 29th November 2013

Kelvin Masiye posted on Munali Constituency Watch's timeline on 1st August 2014"Good

morning Munali Constituency Watch,

Thanks for the job you are doing. Let me through this page announce to the Residents of Obama that on

Wednesday, 06/08/2014, there will be a meeting with the Area Councillor Mr Ndelemani at the venue &

time to be advised in due course. My friend and I (both residents of Obama) had a fruitful meeting with

our councillor on Wednesday evening for close to 1hr during which we shared with him our concerns

about the needs of the area chief is the state of the roads especially the main one. We agreed that for a

start we should do the main road using the grader which the Chongwe Council has procured. We are fully

aware of the challenges that most residents may face regarding the date of the proposed meeting as it

will be a working day but if we can send representation that will still do.

On Monday, I will take the council round so that he gets to see the state of the roads. My contact number

if is 0977-685573 (for those wishing to contact me for more info get in touch after working hours -

preferably after 16.30hrs). Thanks."

Raising urgent issues that need attentionIssues can be raised with or without photos – however they are often more impactful with photos. Here are a few posts showing issues that have been raised - some of them with good results.

· Kanyama Constituency Watch 18 June

In this picture we see a road in John Laing compound, where some floods even after the rainy season is

long gone. I implore the councillors to use the funds to improve the roads

· Munali Constituency Watch 1 July 2014

CDF scandal in Munali Constituency exposed! Mike Mposha, our community member, posted on June 27,

2014 this information: "It was reported in the Auditor General's 2012/2013 report that our Constituency

Development Committee bought a non-functional front end loader. According to government

procurement regulations, it was wrong to assign public funds towards the purchase of a second hand

equipment, worse still a non-functional piece of equipment. In fact, the Lusaka DC recently added his

voice to this sad development. My question is, has anyone in the constituency leadership given us

answers for this"?

Calling events and meetings: As evidenced by a post in Munali Constituency Watch

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· Munali Constituency Watch18th November 2013

Munali Constituency Watch

Munali Constituency Watch.. 22nd December 2013

The clearing of the illegal rubbish dump in the grounds of Mahatma Ghandi Primary School, in Mtendere

Section B of Munali Constituency, has started. This terrible eyesore and breeding ground for flies and

other insects which thrive on garbage, was exposed by our community member, Valentine Kasuba Lombe,

who posted a picture of the vast refuse heap on Munali Constituency Watch on 16th December

2013.Following our appeal for support from Munali Constituency Watch community members, to call or

text the area councillor, Benjamin Chanda, who is on mobile numbers 0978355235 and 0967040772, for

him to ensure that the rubbish was cleared, we are happy to report that the process has begun, and we

have photographic evidence taken today, Sunday 22nd December 2013, to show how much work has

been done so far.

Celebrating successes to keep citizens and duty bearers motivatedBy celebrating the successes so publically on the Constituency Watch space you also get the chance to say a thank

you to the duty bearers who were involved in resolving the issues:

· Munali Constituency Watch. 9 September 2014

· Munali Constituency Watch· 12 July 2014

Kaunda Square burning rubbish being sorted out

Chelston Market Crater Repair Works Begin A few weeks ago raised

concern about the craters at Chelson Market, which fill up with water like fish ponds, whenever there is a

heavy downpour, making it difficult for pedestrians and motorists to pass. Thankfully, somebody heard

our complaint and something temporary is being done to fill those large cavities, located on the side of

the market where Zambeef and the Parmalat container are located. Here is the first of two photos

showing the result of the emergency repairs, which are on-going. However, the real issue is: "When will

permanent roads be built around the market? Will the market roads be part of the L400 Road Project or

the Pave Zambia 2,000 Project?" These questions beg an answer. We'll leave that to Councillor Richard

Sakala of Chakunkula Ward, under whose care the market is.

Mutumbi Road tarred! Gilbert Kasonde our community member, has posted an update on Mutumbi

Road, which he complained about last year, when it was in a terrible state. He is now a happy man and

has brought us the latest photograph. Last year I posted about this road, between Kamanga and

Mutumbi, when it was terrible. Now it is tarred. Thanks to the government. We just need drainage before

the rains come or we risk losing the benefit.

We got this message at 09.51 today, from Councillor Robinson Kalota of Munali Ward 33, in response to

the concern raised by our community member, Joe C. Nsokolo, yesterday, about the burning rubbish at

the Kaunda Square Stage 1 market rubbish dump, which was causing a lot of smoke pollution and

discomfort to community members.

“Morning, we are now on the site, the company running the site has failed. Just to update you, we have

sent trucks, a front end loader and fire fighters, to make sure that we normalise the situation. Now, going

forward, I have decided to terminate the contract for the company contracted to manage the rubbish

dump, because it's not the first time that it has failed to collect garbage. We need someone with trucks to

be managing these sites, so that when the council fails to collect it, they can mobilise their own transport.

My apologies for the delay. We would have done the job as at yesterday, but as you may be aware, LCC

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does not have enough transport, so we had to mobilize today. Thanks.” Councillor Kalota sent

photographs, at our request, of the clean-up operation, which we have uploaded.

Some Development Data from Chakunkula Ward Councillor Richard Sakala:

o Mtendere Bridge cost K430 000.00 ,

o 1 X 3 Classroom at Chainama School for Special needs,

o generator for Chelstone Clinic cost k25 000.00 ,

o communal toilet for Kamanga residents cost k180 000 ,

o water and sewage system for Kaunda Square, works ongoing, up to now cost k480 000.00 police

post for kamanga compound cost k280 000.00 .

These projects have already gone through the approval stages at Council and some have been partially

funded. With the release of CDF for 2013 we should be able to have most projects done.

Christmas has come early … Chelston Water Expansion Project Starts. Councillor Richard Sakala of

Chakunkula Ward has posted that: “Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company has embarked on a water

supply expansion project.

Tiyeko Mwale: Avondale please kweve ni ku ma yard we need a tarred road that zaf mess road ma motoka

yazafa.

Response from Munali Constituency Watch: Find out from your councillor if the roads will be done. You're

most likely under Chainda Ward. The councillor is Mr. Given Lwenshi, who is on cell 0974703862. Please call

him or text him. Don't be afraid. You are his boss

Munali Constituency has one of the most inspiring and educated MPs in Zambia. Professor Nkandu Luo our

MP is an inspiration to us all. You as constituents must engage her on your development needs, this is her

number: 0977794206 now get cracking and claim your development!

Munali Constituency Watch Enabling Area Councillors or MPs to provide feedback to citizensCouncillors or Area MPs who are keen to communicate well with their local constituents can use the Facebook

page to provide information and feedback to citizens. This may be to share information on how funds are being

spent, to update citizens on progress with specific works or tasks, to advise citizens of forthcoming meetings, or

even to ask for feedback from citizens. The Councillors can upload the information themselves – or simply pass it

on to the administrators of the Constituency Watch site. Sometimes the best way to do this is not in short

sentences on the Facebook page, but through a video!

· Kanyama Constituency Watch shared Mercy Bliss Montanah's video. 4 July 2014

Some news from Kanyama: interview with the ward 10 councillor. Video by Maureen Lisa Phiri

· Munali Constituency Watch 15 November 2013

· Munali Constituency Watch 26 November 2013

Requesting and receiving contact information on councillors, MPs etcFor public officials, their work contact details are publically available so you can share them on the Facebook page.

Their personal, private contact details should not however be shared in this media- only those contact details that

are connected to their public role can be made available to the public.

· Munali Constituency Watch 8 September 2014

· Munali Constituency Watch 12 October 2013

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Meanwhile citizens can also use the page to request information from other users of the page:

· Munali Constituency Watch 25th September 2014:

Providing information to Citizens to help them become more activeYour Constituency Watch page can help citizens become more aware about local facilities and the rights they have to use them. This information may come from local sources, or even news from the radio or the television. By sharing to a targeted group of people who live in your constituency, you are making sure that people stay actively aware of what is happening in their community.

· Munali Constituency Watch 14th November 2013

Citizens demanding accountability

· Solwezi Central Constituency Watch 18 July

Propaganda in Solwezi Central Constituency has advanced. The public toilet that was built at a cost of

K224,000.00 (K224,000,000.00) old currency was officially opened by Malupenga on 17th July 2014 despite

public outcry over the over-costing of the public toilet… the PF Town Clerk for Solwezi Municipal Council had

on the same date 17 July 2014 advertised that CDF for 2013 was now out for Solwezi Central and project

proposals are invited for funding.

· Solwezi Central Constituency Watch ..6 February

The status of the roads in Solwezi urban, down here from left to right you see the road behind the Urban

Clinic from the prisons, the road from Messengers Compound through Kizhingezhinge to the Urban Clinic and

the one to Chawama passing behind showgrounds through Rodwel Mwepu Primary School. Imagine the

copper that Solwezi is producing and compare that with what you see here. What is the local authority

waiting for?

· Livingstone Constituency Watch ..13 June

When will the solid waste management plan by the council start working? Months have passed since our

council announced their plan to manage solid waste at household level, but there is no sign of

implementation. The plan itself is a good one because it reduces the number of illegal dumpsites. My appeal

to the council is that they let the collection of solid waste at household level begin now before places like

Mbita police are turned into a dumpsite. There is a huge heap of garbage next to Mbita police. This is because

the council is failing in its duties. I believe two garbage collection trucks were given to our council by the

Ministry of Local Government not too long ago. Let one of those trucks be used for the same.

Good morning Munali Constituency Watch, Kindly assist me with the contact number for the Councillor for

Kalingalinga Ward

Fellow Constituents. We paid an impromptu visit to the Munali Constituency MP's office this afternoon, just

before 13.00 hours, to familiarise ourselves with its operations and more importantly, to establish if our MP

ever visits or works from the place. We were met by the Administrative Assistant, Mr. Morgan Chikome, who

attended to us in the absence of his boss, Mrs. Florence Mwanza.

The office is fully staffed and equipped, with all the modern conveniences, such as phone (281934),

computers, Internet, copier/printer, etc.

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Sharing good practices so duty bearers understand their role better – sometimes failure to deliver results is not due to lack of effort, but to lack of knowing what you are supposed to be doing:

· Munali Constituency Watch shared Zambia Daily Mail's status. 23 October 2013

· Munali Constituency Watch 24 October 2013

Providing news about local events and successes so that the Constituency Watch focus is not only talking about problems and bad news. That would just depress your followers and they would gradually stop reading your page. For anyone to campaign to improve their community they need to first love it and feel committed to it – this sense of pride comes from the efforts local people are already making to improve their own situation. Stories on local events and successes are therefore very helpful to encourage people to become active citizens.

· Munali Constituency Watch 16 October 2013

· Kanyama Constituency Watch 27 June

When an MP intervenes in their constituency, this is what it looks like...

MATERO member of Parliament Miles Sampa has issued a 10-day ultimatum in which drivers should stop

parking trucks on Mungwi and Buyantashi roads while waiting to offload fuel and other cargo

President Sata has today emphasised that MP and Councillors should be in touch with their constituents, or

else they will not be adopted to re-contest in 2016. This resonates well with what we have been saying on this

forum. We created this platform to facilitate engagement between our representatives and ourselves.

St. Raphael's School at the Chelstone Catholic Church will be holding a community fundraising fete. The event

is this Saturday 16th October 2013 from 9 hrs to 16 hrs. The School has been suffering from lack of water,

poor sanitation, dangerous play park and inadequate infrastructure such as store room for exam papers and

staff room, prompting the school to have students write exams at other centres. The School, despite all these

problems maintains a 100% pass mark. Please attend and support the school. Tickets at 10 kwacha, it will be a

fun event for the kids with jumping castle, games and meeting other people from the community...

The 'Vichitik' Youth Active Citizen training programme for girls commenced on Tuesday, 24th June 2014 in

Kanyama. This video clip is taken from a practical session on the first day.

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