Brian, All good questions, can I suggest you tweet them to @notinmycountry not sure any of us have all the answers ;-)
I guess shaming sometimes might not be enough, but as the saying goes there is no smoke without fire. I can tell you as someone who has experienced some of the issues mentioned via someone close to me I am glad of the existence of the site. Part of the problem is the system does not work, student have no recourse, lectures abuse their positions and are protected by their bosses. I guess legally yes this could be misused. Would it be fair to have a student section so lectures can also name and shame? Victor as our resident Prof. how do you feel about this? You have experience of working here and know that what this is trying to prevent is noble, do the ends justify the means? Simon Vass Managing Director E-Tech Uganda Ltd http://www.etech.ug Tel: +256 (0) 312260620 or (0) 312260621 email: [email protected] skype: e-techservicedesk ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Ssennoga" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Cc: "Uganda Linux User Group" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, 24 May, 2012 12:46:37 PM Subject: Re: [GTUG Kampala] NotInMyCountry.org - Anti-corruption website targeted at Ugandan universities About this, NotInMyCountry - i think is a better name for something that's directed to Government Officials. For Universities, why did you not consider using NOT IN MY UNI(VERSITY). Personalization has a way it drives Ownership. Am also curious about the end result. Is shaming enough? Is it an end in itself? Does the vice go away? The Anonymous data being received seems to be one way - how will you check for Malice Aforethought? Would you take the legal responsibility for a counter-suit if a shamed professor sued? If so, what happens to the "anonymous source" - would you swear to protect them? Will all incidences be rated against a set standard? Whose standard of late coming will be used? The NCHE's or the University's? How will legitimacy of an anonymous source who was drunk at 11am - case in point? MUK's current VC's + a Certain lady student - be captured by the system? Any other Verifications? Am just thinking beyond the obvious... Brian On Thu, May 24, 2012 at 12:12 PM, NotInMyCountry.org Webmaster < [email protected] > wrote: Please read the following press release for http://www.NotInMyCountry.org , an anti-corruption website targeted at Ugandan universities built entirely on open-source software (LAMP + Drupal 7) and, as the LUG pointed out, Google Maps. All data presented on our website should be considered free to use for any purpose and we plan to offer free database dumps for download in the near future. Today is our official launch and thus we start with no user-generated data, so please help this experiment grow by rating any professors or university staff that you've interacted with. We also welcome constructive feedback and would greatly appreciate any suggestions on how to make the site better. http://www.NotInMyCountry.org ------ PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION Ugandan Celebrities Unite to Launch NotInMyCountry.org Website Aims to Stop Corruption at 34 Universities in Uganda Enygma, Lyrikal Proof, Mr. Deejay, The Mith, Maurice Kirya, Mckenzie, Big Tril, Salmar (Radio City), Dave Dash (Radio City), Rabadaba, the public relations company Kinaya, and the clothing line def.i.ni.tion have joined a campaign to promote the new anti-corruption website NotInMyCountry.org , which seeks to reduce corruption at universities. The website empowers students to publicise wrongdoing committed by university staff members. Students can anonymously and securely (1) rate the job performance of their lecturers and administrators and (2) report them for corruption. The promotional campaign is now taking place on the celebrities’ Facebook and Twitter accounts, where the celebrities are quoting a number of proverbs about corruption: “Even today the remedy for dirt is water.” -African Proverb “A man can never be perfect in a hundred years; but he may become corrupt in less than a day.” Chinese Proverb “A corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” -Matthew 7:17 “If the teacher be corrupt, the world will be corrupt.” -Persian Proverb Recent surveys have shown that: • 22% of Makerere University students have been asked by lecturers and administrators to engage in some form of corruption, such as providing sex, money, and even alcohol in exchange for passing marks or simply to have paperwork processed; • 29% of lecturers have poor class attendance; • 24% of students do not report corruption because they think doing so will solve nothing; and • 23% of students do not report corruption for fear of possible repercussions. NotInMyCountry.org seeks (a) to remove that fear, which university students often feel when they want to report or complain about an incident of corruption, and (b) to show that reporting corruption can produce positive results. NotInMyCountry.org has therefore created a safe, secure, and anonymous space online where students can attack the two main problems of (1) poor performance ( quiet corruption ) and (2) coercion of students for money, sex, alcohol, and other favours ( hard corruption ) by holding corrupt individuals at their universities to account. The information that NotInMyCountry.org gathers will publicly punish those who engage in corrupt activities and at the same time reward those who excel at their positions and who work hard not to break the public trust. What’s different about NotInMyCountry.org is that we put the spotlight on corrupt individuals. NotInMyCountry.org’s work targets universities because university students are the future leaders of this country. If students learn at university that they must buy their grades with cash and bypass bureaucracy by selling their bodies, their resulting cynicism will persist into their future careers. If they instead are empowered to hold abusers to account, Uganda will benefit for years to come. For more information, see our FAQ , Facebook Page , Facebook Group , and Twitter Page . Celebrities Who Have Endorsed NotInMyCountry.org Enygma - Facebook Twitter Lyrical Proof - Facebook Twitter Mr. Deejay - Twitter M aurice Kirya - Facebook Twitter The Mith - Facebook Twitter def.i.ni.tion - Twitter Salmar - Facebook Twitter Mckenzie - Facebook Twitter Kinaya - Twitter Dave Dash - Twitter Rabadaba - Twitter Big Tril - Twitter -- Love indeed conquers all..... Brian A. Ssennoga _______________________________________________ The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: [email protected] Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in any way.
