capital , if you have changed the figures , they will know and you will be caught out . '' According to experts , cellphones are particularly important for Africa due to a lack of some other technologies . Visiting African political expert at Indiana University , Sheldon Gellar , said cellphones were much more accessible than the internet in most parts of Africa , and therefore had greater potential to influence transparency . `` Internet provides groups in society with means to communicate , organize and obtain good information which is not controlled by government -- but , only a tiny percentage of African populations have access to internet . '' Just this month CNN reported dramatic increases in cell phone usage in African nations . In the Democratic Republic of Congo , for example , there are just 10,000 fixed telephones but cellphone subscribers have soared to more than a million in the last five years . Gellar told CNN the key benefit of cell phones was that they allowed independent media , especially radio , to provide accurate coverage of elections and make it more difficult for ruling parties to cheat and get away with it .
LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The humble mobile phone is driving a new revolution which some experts hope could bring fairer elections and democracy to some African states . During the 2006 local government elections in Senegal , Radio Sud used reporters and correspondents with cell phones to call in what they saw . Many African countries have struggled against rigged elections and authoritarian rule since gaining independence last century . However , African observers say the growth of simple communication technologies like cell phones are assisting many states to progress towards open and fair elections in increasingly democratic systems . Senegal is one of a number of African countries to hold successful elections by keeping voting and counting in check through independent communication . Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said many African nations now had a `` very open society '' and the increasing success of elections owed a lot to the existence of mobile phones . `` With communication and cell phones , this is where it is difficult to cheat in elections now . You are announced at the district level and cell phones go wild so by the time you go to the