Early December last year we got introduced to Uganda’s first ever crowd sourced based web app —called RoadConexion — whose purpose was meant to notify drivers sway avoid unnecessary traffic jam on Uganda’s poor road network. In an interview with ISP recently lead developer, Lynn Asiimwe said
A problem we have here in Uganda is the roads, the infrastructure is terrible. This is mainly the effect of bad governance and corruption. The effects are traffic jam, incomplete roads, and potholes everywhere
Uganda is a country that has been battling with corruption since the 1990s, in 2010, President Yoweri Museveni promised to launch an investigation into corrupt road builders. And in 2011 local newspaper, The Independent, stated that according to the Auditor General, money for maintaining road infrastructure was not well spent and that there were “alarming disparities in costs” as well as “shoddy standards, poor and late delivery by numerous contractors.”
Engaging the masses
Lynn is confident that initially engaging users will do the trick. The app allows users to put forward and receive real-time traffic reports on road repairs, accidents and traffic jam on almost any Kampala road featured on Google maps via the internet. Motorists and pedestrians can log into the site using Twitter and Facebook. Lynn further tells ISP that
If people realize that the traffic is really bad they might start a conversation on their own and this conversation will hold these leaders accountable.
