Dial *#254# to have your say on public health — no internet needed
Ordinary Kenyans have no formal channel to be informed, consulted, or heard on high-stakes public health decisions like hosting an Ebola quarantine facility that directly threaten their safety.
SautiBaraza gives ordinary Kenyans a toll-free or low-cost short code they can call to hear current public health proposals in their constituency, record voice opinions, and receive SMS summaries of community consensus and government action. AI transcribes every call so county officials receive clean reports without needing smartphones.
Nairobi residents and ordinary Kenyan citizens affected by top-down public health policies
The only platform reaching feature-phone majority (over 70% of adult Kenyans) with zero data requirement and full voice interaction in local languages, purpose-built for public health policy consultation.
accessible and community-first
Dial-in menu to browse and respond to active health proposals
Record opinions during call with Africa's Talking integration
Automatic transcription and translation of voice responses
Weekly SMS digest of community voice and government replies
Web dashboard for county officials to review sentiment by ward
Persistent profile linked to phone number across calls
Public dashboard showing community sentiment by county
SMS reminders for new proposals with direct dial link
Simple web tool for human review of sensitive transcripts
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| phone | text | No |
| constituency | text | No |
| preferred_language | text | No |
| total_calls | int | No |
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| title | text | No |
| audio_briefing_url | text | No |
| constituency | text | No |
| status | text | No |
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| caller_id | uuid | No |
| proposal_id | uuid | No |
| recording_url | text | No |
| transcription | text | Yes |
| sentiment | text | Yes |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| proposal_id | uuid | No |
| reply_text | text | No |
| reply_audio_url | text | Yes |
| sent_via_sms | bool | No |
Relationships:
/api/ivr/menuHandle Africa's Talking voice webhook and return TwiML
/api/transcribeTrigger Deepgram transcription on new recording
/api/sms/summaryGenerate and send weekly community summary
/api/official/dashboardSentiment dashboard for county health officers
2 calls/month
None
None
| Month | Users | Conversion | MRR | ARR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 680 | 9% | $1,620 | $19,440 |
| Month 6 | 4,650 | 18% | $13,950 | $167,400 |
Listen, record your voice, and get SMS updates when the government replies. Finally a channel built for every Kenyan.
Pilot with 3 large women’s savings groups (chamas) in Mathare, Kibera, and Mukuru who already meet weekly. Record their first calls live and immediately send compiled reports to their local MCA. Offer free Champion tier to the first 150 callers who recruit 5 others.
Official
One-way information, no voice response or polling
Bidirectional voice conversation with transcription and follow-up
Exclusive partnerships with county health offices for official short codes and deep integration with existing community health worker networks.
Massive growth in USSD usage post-COVID combined with 2022 constitutional rulings emphasizing public participation before major health infrastructure decisions.
Poor call quality in rural areas
Use Africa's Talking robust fallback routes and keep menus extremely simple
Regulatory approval for short code
Start with premium rate short code then transition to toll-free after traction
Success: 78% completion rate and 65% willing to call monthly
Success: 1,000 calls and at least one policy change acknowledgment
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