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Through the informational activities of Africa’s civil society organisations, the new information communication technologies (ICTs) are largely perceived to offer unprecedented plurality that challenges the hitherto excessive powers and influence of the continent’s ruling elites. Before the advent of ICTs, many African leaders tightly controlled information dissemination ? allowing only the dominant political views. Based on interviews in Kenya and Zambia, this paper examines the perceptions that in Africa the impact of ICTs is, ironically, disproportionately greater than their overall spread, and that the libertarian ICTs as impetus to the third wave of democratisation shift the balance of power between states and citizens, especially in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]