e-Whistleblowing: Civictech and GovTech Innovations in Nigeria and Kenya

In recent years, civic technology (civictech) and government technology (govtech) innovations have been used to promote whistleblowing in public administration in many African countries. However, this has come with its own challenges, which are typical of developing political systems in African countries. Despite this, using new ‘whistleblowing technologies’ has the potential to overcome some operational challenges in public administration. This chapter explores civictech and govtech innovations that have been used to promote whistleblowing in Kenya and Nigeria. It highlights the opportunities and challenges in enhancing whistleblowing and whistleblower protection in these countries, showing how similar challenges hinder the digitalisation of ethical responses through civictechs and govtechs. The chapter draws on digital governance, anti-corruption and whistleblowing research and activities by governance practitioners in both countries to illustrate the practical realities of implementing civictechs and govtechs for public accountability in contexts where whistleblowing remains problematic and whistleblower protection legislation is lacking. The primary goal of this chapter is to provide insights into achieving democratic administration through civictechs and govtechs. Doing so points out the practical realities of implementing digital governance for public accountability in African political contexts where digitalisation is only taking shape and still grappling with extreme forms of corruption, as commonly reported in Nigeria and Kenya.