Social media as an anti-corruption tool

Kenya: Kenya is one of the countries that has been high on the list of regions adversely impacted by corruption. As time goes by, the chorus of dismay from citizens appears to be getting louder and louder. Last week, the President asked government officials, State corporation chiefs and other officials whose names appeared in the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission's report on corruption to step aside and make way for investigations.

While this may act as the first step in curbing the menace, this alone will not be enough. A lot must be done to effectively address the issues annexed to the seemingly towering challenges of corruption. One way is by making use of social media as a tool to fight corruption.

A number of studies have indicated that social networks are becoming powerful apparatus when it comes to implementing solutions to the challenges of corruption. The three primary ways social media can be used to fight corruption include:

Sharing of information: Disseminating information on corruption, mismanagement and the quality of service provision.

Government transparency: Government should share information such as how officials conduct public business and spend taxpayers' money with the public to promote openness, accountability and transparency. This will in turn translate into a virtual cycle of transparent policy making, clean government and faster economic growth.

Crowd sourcing: Encouraging social media users to share their encounters with corrupt officials or involvement in cases of corruption and gathering this data from them.