What motivates Klarity’s users to fight corruption?

Klarity empowers citizens to act on corruption experienced in their everyday lives. We hold a unique role in society creating a community that connects citizens, activists, journalists, CSOs, and government bodies. We believe that for petty corruption to cease to exist it needs to become a high risk low gain activity.

In earlier blog posts we have introduced our leadership, our key community partner Tiger Eye Foundation and in this blog post we will highlight our third pillar, our users.

Klarity provides an online community where activists anonymously crowdsource video-based evidence against corruption issues in their local neighborhoods. Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of our philosophy which means that anyone can create an account, engage and generate content on Klarity anonymously. A key component is that all content is carefully peer-reviewed, ensuring its relevance and reliability.

We met up with three of Klarity’s users: Emmanuel, Shadrack and Maame to know more about their motivations to fight petty corruption.

Emmanuel

My name is Emmanuel and am an Engineer by profession. I am a young man of 28, from the Volta part of Ghana. I love when things are done the right way. I also believe that doing those right things starts with me as an individual, and you as another individual. And together we can convince others to join us. When we all join in the anti-corruption movement we are putting a stop to the harm done to society and because Klarity is doing this, it makes sense to join in that fight.

I believe corruption destroys society in small significant ways. It destroys society little by little but in ways that are felt by every member of the society. The perpetrators of corrupt practices are selfish individuals who don’t care about the collective good of society. I am engaged in this movement because when corruption is eradicated totally, individuals will develop, society will develop and the nation as a whole will develop.

Let’s look at this scenario: I was driving one night on one of the major roads in Ghana and there was a broken truck parked on the road with the driver and his mate in front of the vehicle working on the engine. Unknown to a colleague and I, the truck was parked but we thought it was moving slowly so our car came very near the truck, I saw images of people in front of the car and told the colleague driving to slow because the the truck was stationary. We parked our vehicle and confronted the driver why he didn’t put a warning sign on the road to indicate that his truck was broken because where he parked was dangerous to other motorists. He apologized and asked the mate to put the sign on the road. Now when I looked at the truck, I don’t believe it was roadworthy, but the driver has paid his way through and the truck is on the road, posing a danger to other motorists. Now if this truck and other trucks and cars are made sure they are worthy to be on our roads, they are genuinely checked to carry the required weight of goods, they are checked for good lights, fire extinguishers, brakes and other essentials before being issued with a certificate to be on the roads, then this will help in putting sanity on the roads.

I believe that petty corruption affects us in many ways. The examples I gave earlier is one example. Another example is that I went to the DVLA office to enquire about the process on how to obtain a driving license. The officer told me about the whole process and told me I don’t have to go to through all that stress. All I needed to do was to pay a specific amount of money and my licence will be ready in three weeks’ time. Well, I chose to go through the normal process and until now my licence is not ready. That’s how petty corruption affects individuals. I see cars pass by police barriers everyday, cars that are overloaded, cars that have broken lights, but after some exchange they continue through the police barrier. And these cars with broken lights pose a lot of danger to motorists at night. That’s how petty corruption affects us.

What I have done to combat petty corruption as a Klarity user is I’ve talked to people to desist from such acts and go through the normal process, I’ve resisted instances to give out bribes but I am yet to get an app to record dealings of people involved in corrupt practices and learn how to record those acts safely without being caught.

Having a community that is involved in fighting corruption gives you as an individual the energy to go the extra mile to expose corrupt acts because you know there are like-minded individuals who are ready to support you in that fight. It also gives you the courage to do it.

My hope is for Ghana to in the future be a beautiful country where the national cake will be evenly distributed. Where we have citizens who will vehemently oppose corrupt acts and practices. They will stand to fight against this practice and demand justice against perpetrators.

Shadrach

I am Shadrach, a writer and poet, however currently running a sports company. I am an ardent advocate for accurate character. Corruption is an error in character by so doing. The Klarity platform is one of the many channels of correcting character.

Petty corruption has affected me many times. Even when you are aware of a price of a service, because you want it in a hurry someone has devoted him/her self to defraud you. Example, when doing my birth certificate, instead of me paying Ghc30 I paid Ghc 70, but in the end it took me exactly the same time to retrieve it. Again, when you needed entry into university, someone had paid to take your name off the list, or to fail you.

Behind the scenes, I talk to so many people as I can to avoid participating in petty corruption. Again, I have recorded some videos, some I took safety measures in deleting when I was nearly caught. Other videos has been daily practice. Lastly, I do check in on other Klairity users, finding out their challenges or reasons for not participating in activities.

I find the community useful and I think, the more the community spreads, many more will become aware of the demerits of petty corruption and will refrain from engaging in it. In addition, many who participate in such activities will be afraid to do so, and good fruit would have been yielded.

I am looking forward to the time when many stop taking bribe and actually start doing the job.

I am sure that Ghana will be a better place in 5 years from our focus on the vision and refrain from selfishness and self-centeredness. I am looking forward to the time when many stop taking bribe and actually start doing the job.

Maame

My name is Maame and I am an architect. I completed from KNUST with a bachelor’s degree in architecture and I am currently a design fellow at a design centre. As Ghanaian who has traveled extensively, I have come to realize that the biggest hindrance to our development as a country is because of corruption. I have come to believe that to help the country move forward we need to come together and fight corruption which is why I am engaged in the anti-corruption movement and in Klarity.

I am currently in a country where corruption is a no. If you are caught you go to jail for that. But when I am in Ghana, petty corruption can sometimes make life frustrating. Being denied basic services because you refuse to pay a bribe is a harsh reality I had to endure almost everyday.

I am very active in the anti-corruption movement. I have been calling people out on corruption so much that on most social media groups I am on, when someone posts a corruption related something they actually prepare their defense in advance…

I have also been trying in my own little way to educate people on how corruption negatively impacts on our progress as Ghanaians and why we need to stop engaging in it. I am not very optimistic about the future, in five years I believe Ghana will be as corrupt as ever, still fighting corruption and dealing with the implications of our corrupt acts as a nation.

I feel like if we start calling out corrupt institutions, organizations, officials etc. for corrupt acts based with facts, we could have more impact as people will be more willing to join the campaign.

However having a community is very useful. But I feel like there’s more that can be done. I feel like if we start calling out corrupt institutions, organizations, officials etc. for corrupt acts based with facts, we could have more impact as people will be more willing to join the campaign. But I mean we have to start from somewhere which is what Klarity is doing and small beginnings make great endings.

Do you want to join Emmanuel, Shadrach and Maame in the fight to end petty corruption in Ghana? Join the Klarity team by signing up on klarity.org