Terms of Service & Refund Policy

Version 1.1 · last updated 4 October 2026 · SA-anchored, valid across ZA / KE / NG / SZ

Ukweli is a content-integrity service operated by The Orkestra, a business established in South Africa. These Terms are SA-anchored and written in plain language (the SA Consumer Protection Act requires it). They preserve the consumer rights that apply in each of our markets — see §10.

1. Who we are

Ukweli is operated by The Orkestra, a business established in South Africa. You can reach us at hello@ukweli.io (general) or privacy@ukweli.io (data/privacy). The service is provided at https://ukweli.io.

2. What Ukweli does — and what it does not

Ukweli analyses a document you submit and returns an integrity assessment — flags, scores, and a verdict across checks such as editorial quality, claim precision, fact-patterns, statistics, research method, citation verification, and (where relevant) a market sensitivity review.

Important — please read. Ukweli is a decision-support tool. It assesses integrity, not omniscience: it holds a document to the truth standard, but it does not warrant that a document is true, lawful, or fit for any purpose, and it is not legal, financial, or professional advice. A “cleared” result does not warrant that a document is accurate or safe to publish; a flagged result is a prompt for your own judgement. You remain responsible for what you publish or rely on, and you should independently verify anything that matters.

3. Your account

You need an account to use Ukweli. Keep your login secure; you’re responsible for activity under your account. Give us accurate registration details and keep them current. We use authentication and anti-abuse measures and may suspend access for misuse (see §5).

4. Your content and your privacy

You keep all rights in the documents you submit. We do not store your documents — they are processed in memory and discarded after analysis; we retain only the structured result (scores, flags, verdict, short excerpts) on the limited basis described in our Privacy Policy. We do not use your documents to train models, and our model sub-processor does not train on the data we send via its API. How we handle personal data, including cross-border processing and your rights, is set out in the Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

5. Acceptable use

Don’t use Ukweli to break the law, infringe others’ rights, submit content you have no right to submit, attempt to overload or reverse-engineer the service, or resell it without our agreement. We may suspend or end access for material breach, with notice where practicable.

6. Availability

We work to keep Ukweli available and accurate but provide it “as is” to the extent the law allows (subject to §11). We may change, suspend, or discontinue features, and will give reasonable notice of material changes that affect paid users.

7. Plans, pricing and payment activates at paid launch

Prices, inclusions, and any usage limits are shown on the Pricing page before you buy. Prices are stated in US dollars unless otherwise shown; applicable taxes (e.g. VAT) are shown at checkout. Subscriptions renew automatically each period until cancelled. We’ll show the full price and terms before you confirm payment.

8. Cancellation & cooling-off activates at paid launch

• 7-day cooling-off (SA ECTA s.44): if you’re a consumer, you may cancel a new subscription within 7 days of purchase for a refund, provided you have not substantially used the paid service in that period (e.g. consumed a meaningful share of the plan’s analyses). Cooling-off does not apply once a service has been fully performed with your consent.
• Cancel anytime: you can cancel a subscription at any time from your account. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period; you keep access until then.
• How to cancel: in-app, or email hello@ukweli.io.

9. Refunds activates at paid launch

See the Refund Policy below.

10. Your consumer rights are preserved

Nothing in these Terms removes rights you have under applicable consumer law — including the SA Consumer Protection Act 2008, Kenya Consumer Protection Act 2012, Nigeria FCCPA 2018, and Eswatini law. Where a term here conflicts with a non-excludable consumer right in your country, that right prevails.

11. Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, and without limiting the non-excludable rights in §10, The Orkestra is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for decisions you make based on a Ukweli result (see §2). Nothing here excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded (e.g. for death, personal injury, fraud, or gross negligence). Where liability cannot be excluded but can be limited, it is limited to the amount you paid us for the service in the 3 months before the claim.

12. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms; we’ll post the new version with a new “last updated” date and, for material changes affecting paid users, give reasonable notice. Continuing to use Ukweli after changes means you accept them.

13. Complaints & disputes

Tell us first — hello@ukweli.io — and we’ll try to resolve it quickly. You also keep the right to complain to the relevant authority in your country (e.g. the SA National Consumer Commission, Kenya’s Competition Authority, Nigeria’s FCCPC) or the relevant data-protection regulator for privacy matters.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of South Africa, without affecting the consumer-law rights you hold in your own country (§10).

15. The 2026 Local Government Elections manifesto pages

15.1 What these pages are. For the 4 November 2026 local government elections, Ukweli publishes pages that read each analysed party’s manifesto promise by promise. Each promise is quoted word for word and checked against the powers the Constitution gives a municipality. The pages are free to read and need no account.

15.2 What they are not. The pages do not score, rank or endorse any party, and do not compare one party’s result with another’s as a judgement. They do not say whether a promise will be kept, whether it is a good idea, or how anyone should vote. They are not legal advice. Ukweli is not affiliated with any party.

15.3 Where the words come from. Each page reads the party’s own published manifesto, as obtained by Ukweli. Where Ukweli could not obtain the manifesto itself, the page says so and names the document it read instead. Ukweli checks that the copies it analysed match the files the parties publish, and records each check.

15.4 How the reading is done. Ukweli uses an automated reading by an AI model, held to fixed published rules. A verdict is shown only where Ukweli’s checks agree. Where they do not, or where a promise cannot be tested, the page says so and shows no verdict. Some promises are therefore marked “Could not be assessed by Ukweli”.

15.5 The same rules for every party. Every party’s manifesto is read by the same method and the same rules. No result on any page is changed by hand to favour or disfavour a party.

15.6 Figures change. Counts on these pages, such as the number of parties contesting or manifestos launched, are shown with the date and source they come from, and may change as new information is published.

15.7 Corrections. If you think a page is wrong, use “Spot an error? Tell us” on that page. We aim to reply within 24 hours. If we find an error, we correct the page.

15.8 Party names and logos. Party names and logos belong to the parties and are shown only to identify each party. If a party asks us to remove its logo, we will.

15.9 Your decisions are your own. These pages are information to help you think about the promises made to you. As with the rest of Ukweli (§2 and §11), you remain responsible for decisions you make, and nothing in this section limits your rights under §10.

Refund Policy activates at paid launch

Our stance: fair and simple. We’d rather you stay because Ukweli is useful, not because you’re locked in.

1. 7-day cooling-off (new subscriptions). Cancel within 7 days of your first payment for a full refund, provided you haven’t substantially used the paid service in that window (see Terms §8). This reflects your SA ECTA s.44 right and we extend the same courtesy across our markets.
2. Monthly subscriptions. Cancel anytime; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current month. We don’t pro-rate part-months — you keep full access until the period ends.
3. Annual subscriptions. Cancel anytime; you keep access to the end of the paid year. We don’t refund the unused portion of an annual term except where required by law or where we’ve materially failed to provide the service.
4. Service failure. If Ukweli materially fails to deliver what you paid for and we can’t put it right in reasonable time, you’re entitled to a refund or fair remedy under applicable consumer law — contact hello@ukweli.io.
5. Pay-as-you-go credits. Purchased credits are non-refundable once used; unused credits can be refunded within 7 days of purchase if no analyses have been run against them.
6. How to claim: email hello@ukweli.io with your account email and the charge; we aim to respond within 3 business days.

Refunds are made to the original payment method. This policy doesn’t limit your non-excludable rights under your country’s consumer law.

Companion to our Privacy & POPIA Policy and the per-market privacy notices for Nigeria, Kenya, and Eswatini, which will be published before Ukweli launches publicly there.