Solomon Mbuguah

The Eugene Lawler Award is awarded to Albrecht Ehrensperger, Solomon Mbuguah and Ernest Siva for the Nakuru LUO (Local Urban Observatory) project in Kenya. This unique project in Africa provides publicly accessible terminals in libraries, schools, and offices of NGO's (non-governmental organizations). For the first time members of the community have access to local news and services stored in a geographical database. The Nakuru LUO provides access to information for all members of the community as information empowers people to take their fate in their own hands and, perhaps, to try to change the way access to infrastructure is organized, striving for a more equitable solution. This project makes a solid contribution to access and participation in local government and demonstrates how to implement participation in a developing country.