On Friday, July 12 the Integrity Watch Liberia (IWL) launched the Talkay App in the presence of donors at the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) offices in Fendell. 

Talky is a digital corruption report platform that enables citizens to participate in the fight against corruption by reporting it in real time. According to IWL, the app is developed to curb illegal logging and the abuse of Forest Management Contracts (FMCs).

With financial support from the Swedish government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in collaboration with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) is implementing the Community-Based Forestry and Protected Area Management project (CBFM) in Liberia. 

The Swedish Embassy Program Officer Jenkins Flahwor said this app is a tool designed to break groundbreaking corruption that may not only be useful to the forestry sector but also to other areas of governance to promote transparency and accountability.

Charlyne Worzie, Gender Specialist for the CBFM project in FAO said she believes the Talky App will be beneficial to users. She said the launch marks a milestone victory in developing this app. 

Like any other natural resource-based sector, forestry is affected by various episodes of corruption. As a result, UNDP signed the Responsible Parties Agreement (RPA) with IWL to support the CBFM project to implement the anti-corruption and accountability portion of the project.

Also speaking during the launch, the UNDP CBFM Monitoring and Evaluation analyst Spence S. Salime noted that the app is designed to allow everyday Liberians to report acts of corruption directly, quickly, and easily to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC).

Presenting the Talky app functions, the IWL Executive Director Harold Aidoo laid out all the necessary steps that users go through while reporting. 

The Talky app was officially accepted and launched by the FDA Managing Director Mr. Rudolph Merab. In his remarks, Mr. Merab described forests as “lungs of the earth where inhabitants are bound to take care of the resources and help to build Liberia for future generations. 

The platform is a mobile application that uses SMS and the internet to report corruption. According to IWL Executive Director Harold Aidoo, Talkay permits users to report and document corruption as it happens, and the FDA receives the report instantly on the dashboard.  

Mr. Aidoo explained that although the SMS platform limits users to reporting the location and the kind of corruption happening, with the mobile application, users go through a 7-step reporting that includes attaching evidence such as photos, videos, audio, and incident documents. 

He added that the application also gives the users an option to announce their number if they wish to be contacted, their names, or if they prefer to remain anonymous. 

However, this is not the case with the SMS platform as the user’s mobile number appears on the dashboard as the report goes through and the FDA can make contacts for more details. 

He says although the SMS platform is free, the mobile application requires a user to have internet access. He narrated that the mobile application enables users to file reports offline and submit them when accessing the internet. 

IWL as the application developer, had previously presented the use of the application to UNDP to weigh its development and better understand the product ahead of its roll-out. 

Subsequently, the developers presented the application to other relevant stakeholders including the FDA, Liberia Anti-corruption Commission (LACC), Forestry Communities, and the media ahead of its roll-out.