Yogera: New platform launched to fight corruption

A new online platform that lets people to anonymously report poor service delivery and corruption has been launched in Uganda.

With the new initiative called Yogera [‘speak up' in Luganda], you can also ‘celebrate a hero' who has declined a bribe in their community.

A brainchild of a team of technologists, creative and civil society groups, Yogera aims to inform people about their rights.

It is also looking to provide an easy way to report corruption or poor service delivery, demand government response, and to champion public sector workers who resist corruption.

In recent decades, Uganda has made various efforts to establish systems to fight corruption, including a strong legal framework, but actual implementation of corruption prevention has been weak.

"In Uganda, corruption is widely considered a problem, across a range of demographics, from students to taxi-drivers, shopkeepers to watchmen," says Roy Mukasa from Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU).

 "Only a few people are aware of their rights.

"Many people have paid or continue to pay bribes on a regular basis. For example, we have learned about school girls who have bribed to get good grades, and others who have bribed to get medical treatment - the list goes on and on," he adds.

With Yogera, anyone in Kampala can now anonymously report evidence of corruption via the Yogera website (www.yogera.ug) or via social media on Facebook or Twitter.

Here's how it works . . .

Once a report is made, the Yogera team will follow up with the responsible district leaders or relevant authority to ensure that the matter gets resolved. And once it has been resolved, the Yogera team reports back to the online community too.

The hope is that this way, citizens will be encouraged to speak up because of the change that has happened when they made their online report.

The platform also provides users with an opportunity to encourage anti-corruption behaviour, with its "Celebrate a Hero" button.

"Technology presents us with huge opportunities to foster a culture of transparency and accountability," says Barbara Birungi, Director of Hive CoLab.

"In places where corruption is a social norm, citizens need to be empowered to work together to shift those norms. It is difficult for individuals to stand alone against corruption.  Yogera provides an easy and safe way for them to do it together, and start to change norms".

With corruption no doubt a huge barrier to development and poverty-reduction efforts in Uganda - as well as in many other African countries - the brains behind Yogera hope that their creation will help promote open democracy and foster a culture of accountability.


CHECK OUT YOGERA

Website: www.yogera.ug

Facebook: www.facebook.com/yogeraUg/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/YogeraUg