Scholars, development workers, and everyday citizens are acutely aware of corruption in Africa. Immoral activity has plagued governments and businesses for decades. Fortunately, the Internet is helping cleanup society and bring transparency to developing nations. Not only is a lack of corruption great for restoring public trust, but foreign investment is more likely to economies who don’t practice bribery or nepotism.

Recently, two new corruption mapping sites launched in Africa. I Paid A Bribe serves Zimbabwe whereas Mamdawrinch cracks down on corruption in Morocco. These come on the heels of similar initiatives in Kenya. Ushahidi is hands-down the platform of choice.

{ipaidabribe.org.zw}

Zimbabwe’s I Paid A Bribe has users anonymously share their experiences with bribery: where it took place, how much they paid, and optionally, video or photographic proof. Submissions can be made via email, Twitter, or on-site form. Not only does the site hope to keep officials in line, but it aims to teach the public that they don’t have to submit and pay a bribe every time. So far, I Paid A Bribe has uncovered a handful of daily bribery incidents since its inception. The idea stems from Kenya’s successes with crowd-mapping on the Ushahidi platform.

{Mamdawrinch}

Morocco’s Mamdawrinch (“we will not bribe”) hopes to achieve a similar objective. Built with Transparency Maroc, the Moroccan chapter of Transparency International, Mamdawrinch relies on the Ushahidi platform. So far, a few dozen incidents have been reported.

Kenya, a nation known for its corrupt police, is home to at least three anti-corruption websites. I Paid A Bribe relies on text reports, Kuhonga and Harai use the Ushahidi platform to map incidents of bribery. Kudos to these resources for seeking to annihilate an everyday problem that touches millions of lives. Plus, the sites are a great way to use Ushahidi in ways other than disaster- or election-mapping.

Finally, global monitors Bribespot and Corruption Tracker achieve the same goal, although relatively few African incidents have been plotted.