In a modern world where drums are no longer used to alert communities (this will be a story for another day), it is imperative to find a solution that will be used to alert all neighbors within a community of some impending issue. Anatoli Kirigwajjo from Uganda has thought of just such an innovation which is based on the ancestral drum tradition.  Kirigwajjo is the founder and CEO of Yunga, a local digital security network that enhances neighbor-to-neighbor safety. He was recently awarded “The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation” dedicated to developing African innovators, an award, founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK.

His innovation is based on the “10,000 household model” – a traditional practice where people use drums to alert their community to an emergency. Yunga works by connecting neighbors to one another and to police within a 20 km-radius – through a physical device, smartphone app or SMS service, providing security at a low cost. Picture this, thieves have broken into a house in a neighborhood, the app will alert neighbors of the issue, and they could thus come to their neighbors’ help; or imagine there are some “coupeurs de route” or armed bandits who have blocked the highway and are ransacking travelers at a particular checkpoint, Yunga will alert passengers and the local police of such events, thus enabling drivers to divert to other roadways (not that many exists in rural areas, though). We know how police work is slow in our countries, so enabling neighbors to respond as in the olden days is a true asset to the communities who sometimes feel defenseless in view of ineffective and often late police interventions.

Kirigwajjo said, “I developed Yunga after losing $1,300 worth of assets in a break-in, with little chance of the thieves being caught. We hope that with our household networks, communities will become harder targets for criminals. This will ensure safety, which in turn will create the space for economic activities to thrive.”

So far, Yunga has prevented over 180 cases of community crime and they have plans to expand to additional African markets like Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. Yunga is a testimony of innovation made to solve local problems. Congratulations to Anatoli Kirigwajjo!

It is good to note that Anatoli Kirigwajjo jointly won the award with South African biomedical engineer Edmund Wessels for his battery-powered portable handheld device which allows gynecologists to diagnose and treat a woman’s uterus without anesthetics or expensive equipment in remote areas. To learn more, check out The Uganda Monitor.