On 30 October 2012, the Guardian published ‘Africa's top tweeters: political pioneers in the digital debate’ ^[1]. Did The Guardian’s David Smith get away with this piece too easily?

The Sub-Saharan Africa bloggers of Global Voices think so.

Several countries are omitted and not a single Francophone or Lusophone politician appears on the list. And where are the women? Africa's female politicians are on the rise. Currently, Malawi and Liberia have female presidents while a Ugandan female teenager recently became Africa's youngest Member of Parliament ^[2].

Are key people and countries really identified in The Guardian's list?

Which politicians* should really be on the list? There is also the issue of followers vs engagement. Some of our community members have pointed out that there can be a huge difference between a number of followers and debate/engagement since the list is really about ‘political pioneers in the digital debate'. One member said:

Politicians like Martha Karua in Kenya are more engaging on Twitter even though they have less followers than other top politicians.

^[3]

Rwandan President Paul Kagame visiting kids at the Ibirunga Tennis Court in Musanze Town after accepting Twitter invitation sent by a Kenyan blogger in March 2011. Photo courtesy of SavyKenya

We decided to crowdsource an alternative comprehensive list and you can contribute here ^[4].

When you add a politician to the document, please add provide the following information:

• Twitter handle
• Number Following
• Number of Followers
• Number of Tweets
• Brief description of the politician's use of Twitter – how is she/he unique?

Please join us ^[4] by adding to the list or by suggesting the best mechanism for selecting who should be considered political pioneers in the digital debate in Africa.

*We are focusing on active politicians (not political tweeps or public leaders).