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Terms

Terms of Use

The agreement between you and APNAC-Kenya when you use Shahidi. Written plainly, because a whistleblower deserves to understand what they are agreeing to.

Version 1.0 · Effective 16 August 2026 · Last reviewed 16 August 2026

1. Agreeing to these terms

By using Shahidi you agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform. These terms operate alongside our Privacy Policy, which forms part of them.

Shahidi is operated by the African Parliamentarians' Network Against Corruption, Kenya Chapter (APNAC-Kenya) ("APNAC", "we", "us").

2. What Shahidi is

Shahidi is a platform for reporting corruption and related wrongdoing in Kenya. It lets you submit a report without giving your name, receive a case number, follow the progress of your case, and exchange messages with the APNAC team.

APNAC-Kenya is a civil society network, not a state body. We are not the police, not the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, not a court, and we have no power to arrest, prosecute, compel evidence, or impose a penalty. What we can do is assess reports, investigate within our means, and refer matters to the authorities that do hold those powers.

3. Shahidi is not an emergency service

If someone is in danger, do not use this platform Shahidi is not monitored around the clock and cannot dispatch help. If there is a threat to life, safety or property, contact the police on 999, 112 or 911, or go to the nearest police station. If you are a witness at risk, you may also approach the Witness Protection Agency.

4. Your responsibilities

When you submit a report you confirm that:

  • You believe, honestly and on reasonable grounds, that the information is true.
  • You are reporting genuine wrongdoing, not settling a personal score.
  • Any evidence you upload is something you are lawfully entitled to share.
  • You are not submitting material that is unlawful to possess or distribute.
  • You accept that we may refer your report, and everything in it, to a competent authority.

You do not have to be certain, and you do not have to prove your case. An honest report that turns out to be mistaken is not a breach of these terms. A knowingly false report is.

5. What you must not do

  • Submit information you know to be false, or fabricate evidence.
  • Use Shahidi to harass, threaten, blackmail or defame anyone.
  • Upload malware, or attempt to attack, overload, probe or gain unauthorised access to the platform. Doing so is an offence under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018.
  • Upload material that infringes another person's rights, or that it is unlawful to distribute.
  • Attempt to identify other reporters, or to access cases that are not yours.
  • Use automated tools to flood the platform with submissions.

Deliberate misuse may be reported to the appropriate authorities, and may expose you to civil or criminal liability.

6. What we do when we receive a report

  • We record it and give it a case number.
  • We assess it and, where it warrants action, assign it to a field unit or specialist team.
  • We may ask you follow-up questions through the case chat.
  • Where the matter warrants it, we escalate to the EACC, DCI, ODPP or another competent authority.
  • We update the status of your case so you can follow it.

7. What we cannot promise

We would rather be honest than reassuring. We do not guarantee that:

  • Every report will be investigated. We prioritise according to seriousness, evidence and our capacity, which is finite.
  • Any investigation will lead to arrest, prosecution, recovery of funds, or any other outcome.
  • A referred case will be acted on by the authority we refer it to. That decision is theirs, not ours.
  • You will receive a response within any particular time.
  • The platform will be available without interruption.
  • Your anonymity is technically absolute — see section 2 of the Privacy Policy, which explains the limits honestly and which you should read before uploading anything.

8. Your case number

Your case number is the only link between you and your report. We deliberately hold nothing else that connects you to it.

If you lose it, we cannot recover it for you, and we cannot verify that a case is yours. That is the direct cost of a design that does not know who you are. Keep it somewhere safe, and somewhere that does not itself put you at risk.

Anyone who has your case number can read your case and post messages as you. Treat it like a password.

9. Evidence you upload

You may attach photographs and PDF documents, up to 10MB each and up to six files at a time. By uploading, you grant APNAC-Kenya permission to store, review and, where appropriate, pass that material to a competent authority for the purposes of investigating the matter you reported.

You keep ownership of what you upload. We claim no rights in it beyond what is needed to act on your report.

Evidence is visible only to signed-in, authorised APNAC staff. It is not published and, for your protection, cannot be opened from the public side of the site — not even by you. You can see the names of the files you attached.

Before uploading a photograph Photographs often contain hidden metadata, including the exact GPS location where the picture was taken and details of the device that took it. If that would put you at risk, share the photo "without location data" if your phone offers that, or send a screenshot of the photo instead of the original file.

10. Legal protection for reporters

Kenya does not yet have a single comprehensive whistleblower protection statute. The Whistleblower Protection Bill has been through several drafts and, as at the effective date of these terms, has not been enacted.

Protection instead comes from a patchwork, principally:

  • Bribery Act, 2016 — protects a person who reports bribery to a competent authority from intimidation or harassment, and provides for confidentiality of the reporter's identity.
  • Witness Protection Act, 2006 — establishes the Witness Protection Agency and a protection programme for witnesses at risk.
  • Access to Information Act, 2016 — protects a person who discloses information about wrongdoing in good faith.
  • Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003 and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2011 — govern the EACC's handling of corruption reports.
  • Constitution of Kenya, 2010 — Article 33 (freedom of expression) and Article 31 (privacy).
An important limit Most of these protections attach to reports made to a competent state authority, not to a civil society platform. Reporting to Shahidi does not, by itself, place you under statutory whistleblower protection. If you need that protection, you may need to report directly to the EACC or another competent body — and we can help you understand that route. Nothing here is legal advice; if your safety or livelihood is at stake, seek advice from an advocate.

11. Intellectual property

The Shahidi name, logo, design and software belong to APNAC-Kenya. You may not copy or reuse them without our written permission. This does not restrict your ownership of the content you submit.

12. Liability

Shahidi is provided on an "as is" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by Kenyan law, APNAC-Kenya is not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from your use of the platform, from any interruption to it, or from any decision taken by a third-party authority to which a case is referred.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded — including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or under the Consumer Protection Act, 2012.

You remain responsible for what you submit. If a knowingly false report you make causes loss to another person, that is a matter between you and them.

13. Misuse and suspension

We may decline to act on a report, close a case, or block access to the platform where we reasonably believe it is being misused. Where a case is closed for misuse we will say so in the case chat, unless doing so would prejudice an investigation.

14. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya, and the courts of Kenya have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.

Complaints about how we have handled your personal data may also be taken to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner — see the Privacy Policy.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version number and effective date at the top of this page show the current edition, and material changes will be signalled on the home page. Continuing to use Shahidi after a change means you accept the revised terms.

16. Contact

APNAC-Kenya's registered address and contact details are to be inserted here before launch. For matters concerning a specific case, use the case chat and quote your case number.