Inspiration
Conversations with engineers, architects, and citizens revealed a common concern: obtaining a building permit on the Kubaka system can sometimes require informal communication with permitting officers to speed up the process. Many people believe that calling officials or using personal connections helps applications move faster.
This issue is also documented in the Rwanda Bribery Index 2024 report by Transparency International Rwanda(https://www.tirwanda.org/IMG/pdf/designed_report_-_rbi_2024.pdf). The report highlights corruption risks in the issuance of construction permits by local government authorities.
Seeing that this problem affects many citizens and undermines fairness in public services inspired me to build a solution that increases transparency and accountability in the construction permit process.
What it does
PermitWatch Rwanda is a transparency platform designed to monitor the building permit application process on the Kubaka system.
The system tracks permit applications and ensures that the process follows fair administrative procedures.
Key functions include:
- Monitoring submitted building permit applications.
- Displaying application data on a dashboard for transparency.
- Providing secure links to related application files stored in a database with download access.
- Tracking the official 21-day response period required for permit decisions.
- Checking First-In, First-Out (FIFO) processing to ensure applications are handled in the correct order unless a legally justified exception exists.
By identifying unusual delays or priority changes, the platform can help detect potential cases of administrative injustice or corruption.
How we built it
The project was built as a full-stack web application using:
- Backend: Flask (Python web framework)
- Frontend: HTML, CSS, and Vanilla JavaScript
- Database: Structured storage for permit metadata and document links
A background process periodically retrieves application data and updates the dashboard. The system is designed to query and refresh data approximately every 15 minutes to keep monitoring the permit process.
Challenges we ran into
One of the biggest challenges was access to official data.
The Kubaka system does not currently provide a public API. This is understandable because building permit applications contain sensitive information such as personal identification and property details.
Because of this limitation, the prototype uses simulated datasets for demonstration and visualization.
A real deployment would require collaboration with institutions such as the Office of the Ombudsman or legislative approval to provide secure and authorized API access.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Designing a civic technology solution aimed at increasing transparency in public service delivery.
- Creating a working prototype dashboard capable of monitoring permit processing timelines.
- Demonstrating how technology can support institutions in detecting irregular administrative practices.
- Turning research findings about corruption risks into a practical digital solution.
What we learned
- Research reports and public data can reveal real society problems that technology can help solve.
- Many impactful ideas originate from observing everyday challenges faced by citizens.
- Building solutions does not always require all resources at the beginning.
- Prototypes help demonstrate feasibility and encourage collaboration with institutions.
What's next for PermitWatch Rwanda
Future improvements include:
- Integrating secure data access with the Kubaka system.
- Partnering with the Office of the Ombudsman to support oversight and reporting.
- Adding automated alerts when applications exceed the 21-day legal processing period.
- Implementing analytics to detect unusual patterns in permit approvals.
- Expanding the system to monitor other administrative services vulnerable to corruption.
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