Uganda: digital network boosts community security

In the suburb of Kyaliwajjala in Kampala, Uganda, ensuring security is a community effort.

To stop notorious thieves, Stephen Ssali and his neighbors have joined a digital network that links them to the nearest police posts.

Yunga connects the community within a radius of 20km and includes a monitor and an alarm system linked to a mobile phone.

The system was developed in 2019 by software engineer Anatoli Kirigwajjo, after the idea came to him following a neighbourhood robbery.

In 2021, the Africa Organized Crime Index placed Uganda 13th highest on the continent's criminality score.

Kampala's police have welcomed Yunga which they believe will help enforce the rule of law.

The system is fitted with motion sensors to push buttons when users are not nearby. And it even works offline.

One unit costs $135 for one year, with one thousand households already on the network, a number which is quickly growing.

Yunga won the Royal Academy of Engineering 2023 Africa prize for engineering innovation. With the funding boost, Kirigwajjo aims to connect 32,000 more households in the next two years.