Research Team

Principal Investigator

Dr Sharath Srinivasan (University of Cambridge). Sharath was the PiMA project’s Principal Investigator (PI), responsible for leading on research strategy, comparative analysis and output and impact generation.

During 2013, Sharath spent substantial periods of time supporting field research in Kenya and Zambia. He was also the PI and director of a related project on New ICT and Citizen-led Governance in Africa, including its applied quasi-experimental pilot, Africa’s Voices, which trialled comparative audience polling with radio stations across the continent. He also co-founded FrontlineSMS:Radio, a free software tool that supports SMS interactivity for radio stations. He is a steering committee member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded Social Media Knowledge Exchange (SMKE) network.

Other positions he holds at Cambridge University are: David and Elaine Potter Lecturer; Director, Centre of Governance and Human Rights (CGHR) in the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS); Fellow of King’s College; member, Digital Humanities Network.

He studied law in Australia before taking his MPhil and doctorate in Development Studies at Oxford University. For more details, see Sharath’s profile.

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Co-investigator

Prof. Winnie Mitullah (Univeristy of Nairobi). As Associate Research Professor of Development Studies at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, Winnie was Co-Investigator on the PiMA project, with a focus on the Kenya case study.

An Associate Research Professor of Development Studies at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Nairobi (UoN), Winnie was Co-investigator on the PiMA project, with a focus on the Kenya case study. Her role involved co-ordinating with PI, Sharath Srinivasan, and working with CGHR Research Associate, Fred Mudhai and a UoN Research Assistant.

Winnie Mitullah is Executive Committee member of Afrobarometer Surveys and a key member of its Kenya Rounds conducted through IDS. She holds a PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of York, UK. Her PhD thesis was on Urban Housing, with a focus on policies relating to low-income housing. While she is a political scientist, her location in a multi-disciplinary development studies institute has exposed her to several disciplines and work in teams examining issues of development using multiple lenses. Her research focus has included assessing the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in development.

Her relevant paper presentations include: ‘Factors Influencing Usage of the New Technologies in Low Income Households in Kenya’ (with Margaret N. Ndung’u and Prof Timothy Waema), at CPRafrica 2011 conference, 18-19 April 2011. She has been actively engaged in boards, commissions and networks that contribute to development. For more details, see Winnie’s profile.

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Research Associates

Dr Alastair Fraser (University of Cambridge). Alastair was CGHR Research Associate on the PiMA project, with a specific focus on Zambia case study.

Alastair coordinated with fellow CGHR Research Associate, Fred Mudhai, UNZA Research Associate Nalukui Milapo and UNZA Research Assistant Emmanuel Tembo. For the duration of the PiMA project, he was a Philomathia Fellow in African Politics based at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. His primary research interests are in the political economy of Southern Africa (principally Zambia), and in international relations and the political economy of development.

He has published on aid negotiations, debt relief, electoral politics, populism, participatory development and poverty reduction strategies. His most recent publication is a volume co-edited with Miles Larmer, Zambia, Mining, and Neoliberalism – Boom and Bust on the Globalized Copperbelt, Palgrave MacMillan, December 2010. For more details, see Alastair's profile.

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Nalukui Milapo (University of Zambia). Nalukui was the Research Associate for Zambia on the PiMA project, working with CGHR Research Associate, Alastair Fraser.

Nalukui is a Research Fellow on the Governance Research Programme at the Institute of Economic and Social Research (INESOR) of the University of Zambia. Her background is in Civil Society and specifically programme and project development on building Constitutionalism, Constitutional/Electoral reforms and Elections management. Some of her specific efforts in Zambia have been production of media programmes on these reforms. Her research interests are in the workings of Civil Society, Parliamentary and Local Government reforms. She is also keen on equity as it relates to gender, following economic, technological and political changes. Nalukui holds MA in Development Studies, specialising in Governance and Democracy, from the Institute of Social Studies, Graduate School of Development Studies, the Hague, Netherlands – with a dissertation titled Beyond the Government and the Party: Explaining Constitution Failures in Zambia.

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Dr Okoth Fred Mudhai (University Cambridge). Fred was CGHR post-doctoral Research Associate on the PiMA project, with a focus on the Kenya case study.

Fred led research on the PiMA project under the direction of PI, Sharath Srinivasan, and coordinated with fellow CGHR Research Associate, Alastair Fraser and Co-investigator, Winnie Mitullah. He was a member of Information Technology (IT) and Civil Society Network of the IT and International Cooperation Program, US Social Science Research Council (2003-2005).

On ICTs and media-society in Africa, he has won awards, authored journal articles, co-edited books (African Media and the Digital Public Sphere and Online Journalism in Africa) and most recently authored a monograph, Civic Engagement, Digital Networks and Political Reform in Africa.

He holds a PhD (Nottingham Trent), MA (Leeds), PgD (Nairobi), and B.Ed (Egerton). He is on a 17-month research secondment (November 2012 to April 2014) from Coventry University where he is a Senior Lecturer in the Media Department. For more, see Fred’s profile.

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Dr Claudia Abreu Lopes (University of Cambridge). CGHR's post-doctoral Research Associate on the project “New Communication Technologies and Citizen-led Governance in Africa.”

Claudia led research on the Africa’s Voices pilot, collaborating with FrontlineSMS:Radio, YouGov, radios stations in Africa, and development partners. She is now Senior Advisor for research in the Africa's Voices Foundation, an independent not-for-profit organisation and spin out from the pilot project. Building from this pilot research, Claudia is helping to shape CGHR's longer-term research agenda in this increasingly important subject area. Her recent research has investigated the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on the management practices, content production, and sustainability of rural and community radios in Mozambique, Uganda, and Mali.

Claudia holds a PhD in Social Research Methods from the London School of Economics (LSE): “From description to explanation in cross-national research: The case of economic morality”, that developed a social mechanism to explain consumer fraud across Europe. Before joining CGHR, Claudia was a Teaching Fellow in social psychology and research methods at the LSE. For more details, see Claudia's profile.

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Research Assistants

Emmanuel Tembo. Emmanuel was a Zambia-based Research Assistant on the PiMA project, working with Research Associates Alastair Fraser (University of Cambridge) and Nalukui Milapo(UNZA).

Emmanuel’s work on the PiMA project was through a partner organisation, the Centre for Policy Dialogue. He has a BA in Political Sciences and Public Administration from University of Zambia, and he is currently pursuing an MA in International Politics at the University of South Africa via distance studies. He has a good understanding of Zambian politics and has had extensive experience working with the media in Zambia. Emmanuel has also worked with a number of local and international NGOs that thrive to promote democracy and human rights. He has been involved in research on various issues such as governance, education and poverty in Zambia. He has also been a columnist with the local and international newspapers, and has written extensively on socio-economic and political issues.

Sammy Mwangi. Sammy Mwangi was PiMA Project Research Assistant in Kenya, working with the country Co- Investigator, Prof Winnie Mitullah and CGHR Research Associate, Dr Fred Mudhai.

Sammy holds a BA and an MA Degrees in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Nairobi, with an MA dissertation focused on the poor/marginalised, titled “Privatization and Access to Water Services: A Case of Low Income Households in Nairobi County”. Prior to joining the PiMA project, he was a part time lecturer at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). He has previously worked at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Nairobi, as a Project/Research Assistant on two collaborative research works – one involving the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the other, Afrobarometer Round Five national public opinion survey. His areas of interest are survey research and the urban poor, focusing on provision and access to basic services for low-income households. He is also an experienced trainer, having worked with government agencies on short-term contracts.

Moses Maina. Moses Maina was a Part Time Research Assistant in Kenya on the PiMA Project, working with the country Co- Investigator Prof Winnie Mitullah and Project Research Associate, Dr Fred Mudhai.

Moses holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management and BA in Community Development from Kenyatta University, Kenya. Prior to joining the PiMA project, he was a Research Assistant in Kenya for the Africa’s Voices Project run by the CGHR. Previously he has worked on several research projects: Examining the role of ICTs in governance systems in Africa, undertaken for CGHR; Media mapping research in Kenya, for US-based InterNews Network; Impacts of ICTs and organic farming on food production in Kenya, for Infonet-Bio vision, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE); End of Programme Evaluation, Governance and Human Rights Programme for Nairobi Disabled Empowerment Programme; and, Impacts of integrating ICT in education system in primary schools in Kenya, for Discovery Global Channel Education Partnership.

Ad hoc administrative and research support

Stephanie Diepeveen - Research Intern. Stephanie assisted the PiMA project with ad hoc administrative aspects.

Some of the areas she has supported include web content refinement and administration of inception workshop in Nairobi (August 2012). During the project she was a CGHR doctorate student at the University of Cambridge, with a focus on the constitution of citizen-state relations through the use of mobile technologies in Kenya. After finishing her PhD she is now working as Research Associate at CGHR.

Emil Graesholm - Website Assistant. Emil assisted the PiMA project with ad hoc tasks relating to the design and administration of web content.

Emil was previously Website Coordinator and Research Assistant on the related project, New Communication Technologies and Citizen-led Governance. He has also contributed to the development of CGHR in various ways, including updating its website. He is a BA Politics graduate of the University of Cambridge. His final year dissertation entitled “New Media and their Impact on Governance and Participatory Politics in Kenya”, published in Journal of Politics and Society, looked at the effect of ICT use in informal networks of the Kibera slum and ICT as a tool for formal integration into political processes pursued by state and NGO agents. During the fieldwork, Emil also facilitated training and relationships with radio partner PamojaFM in Kibera.

Consultant

Dr Iginio Gagliardone (University of Oxford). Consultant on the PiMA project, providing ad hoc expert input drawing on unique ICT expertise during the project’s inception and final workshops