The Power of ICT Towards Effective Decision Making on Public Resources Allocation: Case of Rural Areas of Uganda

Many researchers have talked about the role of e - participation as a means of linking Citizens with their Leaders and also playing roles in decision making processes on public resources allocation. However, little is known about models which can cater for citizens who are in rural areas where there are limited infrastructures and other factors like low education, culture, gender, marginalization etc. This paper describes an ICT System which uses Mobile Phone SMS to accelerate citizens - leaders’ democratic engagement to improve public service delivery. It builds on the Participatory Action Research (PAR) theoretical framework and aims at operationalizing the PAR e-participation model proposed by Toro Development Network in 2014. The system design develops knowledge required for joint reflection and continuous decision making during the engagement processes between citizens (civil society) and government through a participatory action research approach. The paper emphasizes the ICT convergence approach combining broadcast media specifically radio, mobile phone and ICT system to receive and request grass-roots citizens’ public opinion on national strategies, policies and programs.