Rwanda : tech portal to store background information on domestic workers

The death of nine-year-old Davis Ihirwe Rudasingwa in June left Rwanda in shock.

The last born in a family of three was found to have died by strangulation by the house help  at his family home in Ndera Sector, Gasabo District, on June 12. This inspired the  boy’s father to create the tech portal Tekana app.

"I have a family with 3 children, but now I am left with two children because the youngest  is deceased. He was murdered by the domestic worker that was working at my house.

That tragedy inspired me to come up with a solution to such problems,  I created a software  application known as Tekana app. This app’s function is to store background information  on domestic workers."

Rudasingwa said the portal will include name, IDs, place of birth, parents or guardians, job  position, and period of employment, among others. 

Although this solution does not completely  curb household crimes, many users say they feel safer hiring a well-recommended domestic  worker with the help of the app. 

Africanews visited one of the users of the application to  share the impact this technology has added on her family’s life.

"  When I started hearing about the Tekana App from my friends and social media, I got intrigued, I was curious to know how it works. I downloaded the app, subscribed and hired my previous employee that was recommended and had good reviews on the app. My current domestic worker, I registered them in the application, and I believe this will be helpful to their future employer".

To register in the portal one has to pay Rwf1000. The platform is in the four official languages of Rwanda, namely; Kinyarwanda, English, French and Swahili.