Msaada

An emergency reporting and response platform for county governments in Kenya.

The problem

Many residents cannot reach help quickly. Some have no smartphone or reliable data, some do not know which number to call, and county emergency teams often have no shared view of incidents or responder availability.

Who it serves

• Residents report fires, medical emergencies, road accidents, floods, gas leaks, and insecurity.
• County dispatchers verify reports, merge duplicates, and assign responders from a control room.
• Responders receive assignments and update their status, even with poor connections.
• County administrators manage users and areas, and review response data.

How it works

• Smartphone app: reports with location, and a private tracking reference to check progress.
• USSD and SMS: the same reporting for any phone, using fixed menus that limit misuse.
• Dispatcher dashboard: county-scoped incident list, status changes that move one step at a time, and a full history of each change.

Design principles

• Works on basic phones and weak connections.
• Human dispatchers make the decisions. The system supports them and does not act alone.
• Each county sees only its own incidents.
• Phone numbers are stored as one-way hashes, and every status change is recorded.
• Rate limits and verification protect the system from false or flooding reports.

Status

Msaada is in development and tested end to end. Pilot deployments are by invitation, with a single county first, and are subject to agreement on data hosting and handling.