The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), a socioeconomic justice coalition, has launched the #TakeAction campaign, in which citizens can demand transparency and accountability from public officials by reporting corruption cases through a mobile application called CitizenApp.
The application is currently available for download on Android devices at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.CitizenApp
This development occurs as Zimbabwe continues to face major public accountability and transparency issues, as evidenced by the daily reported corruption scandals, cases which need to be accounted for.
According to ZIMCODD, corruption occurs at all levels of governance and life, including central and local government.
“This persistent loss of public resources has caused citizen’s lives to get harder as service delivery becomes poorer and the economic indicators continue to fall. The brunt of this crisis is faced by the poor and vulnerable!” said the watchdog in a statement.
This #TakeAction campaign follows on the ‘strength’ of the #HowFar initiative, which was started in 2021 and asks important accountability questions of duty-bearers.
“The #TakeAction campaign is a call to action for all citizens to raise their agency through demanding transparency and accountability. Beyond asking duty-bearers to account (#HowFar), the current campaign is a call to action for citizens to go the extra mile. Citizens can utilise the CitizenApp to upload reports in video, picture and narrative formats,” said ZIMCODD.
“The CitizenApp and #TakeAction campaign requires all stakeholders to come together to develop a culture of accountability and integrity. This is to say, citizens, civil society, the media and indeed the government can accrue value through the application.”
Citizens can upload reports on the CitizenApp, which journalists can gather evidence from there for investigative pieces while State agencies such as the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and the Zimbabwe Republic Police can investigate reported crimes, according to ZIMCODD.
“The application receives reports of mismanagement of public resources, service delivery issues, corruption etc. The application goes further to provide citizens with utility services such as job posts, the Maintenance in Action programme,” said the watchdog.
“Further to that, we are calling on all stakeholders seeking to plug into the application with their services to reach out.”
ZIMCODD, which was founded in February 2000, facilitates citizens’’ participation in making public policy more pro-people and pro-poor.
The organisation also emphasizes citizen agency and engagement as an important sign of its purpose.
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