Remember my previous blog How collaboration helps fight corruption globally? I invite you to read this as an extension to that blog. Corruption is endemic in far too many countries but collaboration can fix and is fixing this scourge on our societies. I thought I should give you further insights. Let’s catch up quickly. I remember telling you that as a citizen of a corruption-riddled country, I’m affected and moved to do something about this and thus spend a day a week at Corruption Watch, a community managing a digital collaborative platform called Corruption Watch Connected.

Now allow me to draw attention to Land and Corruption in Africa, one of the groups on Corruption Watch Connected, and an initiative of Transparency International (the global coalition against corruption). Land and Corruption in Africa, as the name explains focuses on land corruption in Africa and engages with member organisations of Transparency International’s sub-Saharan African region - Uganda, Morocco, Kenya and Zimbabwe. These organisations share and update each other on land corruption news in their countries on this one little group on the platform. They have real discussions that have replaced boardroom meetings making connection easy.

What’s even more interesting, is that there’s a second organisation on the Corruption Watch Connected platform separate to Land and Corruption in Africa, called Africa Land Grabs. As you may have guessed, Africa Land Grabs also reports on land and corruption in Africa. The two organisations have subsequently started connecting with each other on the platform, sharing information between one another, and together fighting the corruption epidemic on African land.  That’s what collaboration is all about. If we are to fight anything at all and make an impact, be it corruption or fixing potholes on our roads, we need a collaborative effort. What’s more, we don’t even have to share physical space to see that vision materialize.  

Now image one citizen had a dream that could impact the society in a positive way, more citizens believed in that dream and joined in to help, and soon the whole world joined in. How much of an impact can we make collaboratively?

Talitha Hlaka, community manager at Indigo New Media, is a collaboration champion and assists Corruption Watch in building a strong corruption fighting community. Talitha is passionate about digital collaboration as a tool to fight corruption.