Denis Opudo
Corruption is one of the major issues that are hindering economic development of many African countries. Zimbabwe is one of the African countries that corruption is the order of the day. Africa Innovation Trust (AIT) has developed a tool that will help in doing away with the high rate of corruption in Zimbabwe. Launched in 2015, AIT is not out to make profit but rather eradicate corruption.
The organization believes in the use of technology to achieve its goals rather than for making a profit. The organization comes up with innovations thereafter they take them for public use. By now the organization has managed to come up with two innovations I See You (ICU) and Tender Tracking Tool (T3). ICU is the tool that aims at doing away with corruption in the country if not the whole of Africa.
ICU was developed under various concerns. One of them was to offer the required security to the whistleblowers that their lives have always been at risk. Another reason was based on the quality of the evidence that was being given out. However, there is still a point of concern on the working of the ICU. The concern is one has to enter either their phone number or email on the screen before they enter in any evidence. Despite the fact that the organization cannot tamper with the information it is still a point of concern to many people. The main concern is that AIT might have a database of users. Breaching of data is not a common practice but when it occurs it has a big impact on the owners.
One can go ahead and enter in the evidence in case they are not concerned by the security of their data. One can provide evidence in four different ways. One way is through the use of text message which is the weakest evidence since it cannot be used in a court of law. Furthermore one can use voice, videos, recordings, and pictures to give evidence. The four offers strong evidence in a court of law and can lead to convictions. This is the main reason why AIT developed the app.
AIT is working together with the police, Nation Prosecution Authority (NPA) and Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC). After giving the evidence AIT will channel them to the three bodies that will, later on, take the right direction with the evidence. According to Lead Resource for AIT, Benjamin Nyandoro, the app is used in different cases. Apart from it being used to curb corruption in large sectors the school goers are also in a position to use the app. Students can use the app to report corruption incidents in their schools. Furthermore, the app can be used in emergency cases. The app has a panic button feature that one can use during an emergency. One does not have to be a signed-up user for them to use the button. People can get the ICU on the Playstore.
T3 is a web-based app designed to help authorities and public. The app goes through the five-stage procurement procedure of a project, project implementation and track. It then works on the performance of the project that is comparing the minor aim versus the main aim of the project. The organization is currently working on an election app.
