NOT IN MY UNIVERSITY

By Stanley Kimuge and Shiku Ngigi

Recently, a story was posted in one of the many campus forums on Facebook. It was about a campus lady in a Kenyan university. Apparently, she had missed a CAT and thus sought assistance from the concerned lecturer. The old man made it clear. Having sex with him was the only way to have her marks entered in the list. According to her, it was not the first time he was taking advantage of young ladies. She was seeking advice on what to do in that situation.

Whether this accusation is true or not, the fact is that many university students have found themselves in sticky situations where a lecturer or some other administrator demanded a favour in exchange for a service. Ladies have been said to give in to sexual advances to acquire first class degrees. STDs (Sexually Transmitted Degrees) is the widely-accepted term for such.

Have you ever been compelled to give a bribe for a good grade? Whose fault is it if you bowed down to the pressure anyway? Is it the lecturer who took the bribe or you who offered it in the first place? Maybe you could have resorted to another way if you had the chance. Then fret no more; you can finally say no to these advances.

A new website is in town, complete with security measures to ensure that your identity will never be known once you report a case of corruption in it. NotInMyCountry.org is an initiative by a group of professionals whose aim is to help rid university students of the fear to report cases of corruption in their institutions. The website was recently launched in Kenya and so far, a number of students across the country have rated lecturers in various departments.

It is interesting to note that the site is not all about reporting corrupt lecturers; it’s also about giving props to those many lecturers who arrive to class on time, cover the course aptly and grade papers fairly. It also implies that corruption is not just about monetary and sexual bribes, it is also involves failing to fulfil one’s duties in the office bestowed by the public. In other words, lecturers who miss classes only to reappear towards the end of semester with huge hand-outs are corrupt.

You can rate the individual’s performance by attendance, communication skills, accessibility, efficiency and fairness. You can explain why you rated the individual how you did by adding some comments. This last part is optional. The comments are later displayed publicly, once approved. To report corruption, a page is available for one to give as much detail as possible on the said incident. You can also leave your contacts at your own discretion. The administrators of the site promise confidentiality of the information given. It is only used to follow up on the report.

How will this help stomp out corruption on the ground? You may ask. Well, NotInMyCountry.org was first launched in Uganda. According to an emailed response by the site’s representative, a PhD student is writing a thesis on the site’s effect in Ugandan universities. Lecturers are aware of the site and have every intention to avoid appearing in a negative light on the site. You may think that online causes do not have much clout on the ground, but they are could make an individual think twice before making a corrupt move.

Want to know more? Go on, visit NotInMyCountry.org and see for yourself; explore the possibilities. You can even rate departments and universities in general, including administrative departments such as security and accommodation.