Terms of Service

1. What Lughayangu is

Lughayangu helps people learn, use and preserve African languages and history. On Lughayangu you can look up and add words and their meanings, hear and record how words are said, explore Today in History, African personalities, Merikebu (historic African vessels), holidays and festivals, read our articles, play games like tongue twisters, trivia and Mizizi, share mchongoano, sign up for our newsletters, and hire us for translation.

Words are shown the way people really use them, so some entries include slang, insults or sensitive language. History can be painful and is sometimes disputed. We present both honestly, and some content may not suit every reader.

2. Who can use Lughayangu

Anyone can read Lughayangu. To create an account, you need to be at least 13. If you're under 18, you need permission from a parent or guardian, and they agree to these terms on your behalf. Translation work for Lughayangu is for adults (18 and older).

If you use Lughayangu for a school, company or other organisation, you confirm you're allowed to accept these terms for it.

3. Your account

Keep your password private and tell us straight away if you think someone else is using your account. You're responsible for what happens on your account. Use one account per person, give accurate details, and choose a username that doesn't pretend to be someone else.

4. What you contribute

"Your contributions" means everything you add to Lughayangu: words, definitions, example sentences, translations, recordings of your voice, tongue twisters, mchongoano lines, festival details, stories, photos, hero lists, votes, flags and any other material.

When you contribute, you confirm that:

• it's your own work, or you have every right needed to share it and to give us the permission in section 5;
• any recording is of your own voice, or everyone who can be heard in it has agreed;
• any photo is yours to share, and the people in it are happy for it to be published;
• it's honest: meanings, translations and facts are given in good faith;
• it doesn't break any law or anyone else's rights, including copyright, privacy and publicity rights;
• it won't create any liability for Lughayangu.

Most contributions are public and show your username. You are responsible for what you contribute and for the consequences of sharing it.

5. Who owns what

You keep ownership of your contributions.

You give us permission to use them. You give Lughayangu an irrevocable, permanent, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence, which we may pass on (sublicense) to others, to use, copy, store, reproduce, process, edit, adapt, translate, build on, publish, display, perform, play, share, distribute and sell your contributions as part of our products and services, free or paid, and to use them to promote Lughayangu, in any format or media that exists now or in the future. As far as the law allows, you agree not to assert any moral rights against these uses.

This permission continues after you leave, so that Lughayangu stays complete for learners. When you delete your account, we remove your name from your contributions. You can also ask us to remove your name at any time.

Recordings of your voice are covered by the same permission, with one promise from us: we will never sell your recordings on their own to anyone.

Keeping and sharing contributions when required. We may keep your contributions and related information, and share them, if the law requires it or if we believe in good faith that it is needed to: follow a legal process or government request; enforce these terms; respond to a claim that content breaks someone's rights; deal with fraud, security or technical problems; or protect the rights, property or safety of Lughayangu, our users or the public.

Protecting your contributions. You allow us to act on your behalf (non-exclusively) to take action against anyone who copies or uses your contributions from Lughayangu in breach of these terms.

Lughayangu's own work belongs to us. This includes the website and apps, their design, code, databases and features, the dictionary and our other collections as a whole, our articles, Today in History, Merikebu, our games and our documentation. You may not copy, modify, reverse engineer or resell any part of them except as these terms allow. "Lughayangu" is a registered trademark of LUGHA YANGU LIMITED, and the Lughayangu logo is our trademark.

6. How we review contributions

We review contributions to keep Lughayangu accurate and welcoming. We may approve, edit, ask you about, decline or remove any contribution, in whole or in part, at any time and at our discretion. When we decline something, we'll try to tell you why, so you can improve it. Reviews are about getting it right for learners, not about who is right.

We can't check everything before it appears, and we're not obliged to monitor what people post or to block anyone. We act when we see a problem or someone reports one.

7. How to take part

Lughayangu works because people bring their languages and history here in good faith. Please don't:

• harass, threaten, bully or demean anyone, including based on their nation group, language, religion, gender or background;
• post content that is illegal, defamatory, sexually explicit for its own sake, or meant to spread hate;
• share someone else's personal or confidential information, or record someone without their permission;
• post false meanings, translations or history on purpose;
• copy content from other dictionaries or sources you don't have the right to use;
• pretend to be another person or organisation, or to be connected with one when you're not;
• spam, game points or badges, or create fake accounts;
• break into, overload, probe or interfere with the site, or try to reach information that isn't meant for you;
• use Lughayangu for anything illegal where you or we are.

Explaining what a rude or offensive word means is fine. Using it against someone is not. We may limit or end the access of anyone who breaks these rules.

8. Using Lughayangu's content

You're welcome to read Lughayangu, share links to it, and quote small parts with credit and a link back.

No scraping. You may not copy Lughayangu's content in bulk, or collect it with bots, spiders, scrapers or any other automated tool, without our written permission. This covers the dictionary, recordings, articles, Today in History, Merikebu and everything else on the site, and includes using it to train or improve AI models. If you break this rule, we may block your access and seek every remedy the law allows, including court orders and damages. If you see scraping happening, please tell us at [email protected].

API. Access to Lughayangu's API is by our permission only, under separate API terms.

If you'd like to use Lughayangu's content for research, teaching or a project, write to us. We're often happy to help.

9. Translation services and rewards

Translation services. When you hire us for translation, the price, deadline and scope are those agreed in your quote or order, and payments are processed by a secure payment provider. You confirm you have the right to share any document you send us, and we keep your documents confidential.

Points, badges and rewards, such as free ebooks, celebrate your contributions. They have no cash value, can't be transferred, and we may change how they work.

10. Other people's content and links

Lughayangu includes content from contributors, and links to or content from other websites and services, such as embedded videos and maps. We don't control that content and aren't responsible for its accuracy or quality, or for other websites' terms and practices. You may come across content you find offensive, wrong or objectionable, and you use it at your own risk.

11. Copyright complaints

If you believe something on Lughayangu copies your work without permission, send our copyright agent the following by email to [email protected] or by post to P.O. Box 7944-40100, Kisumu, Kenya:

• your physical or electronic signature, as the owner or the person allowed to act for them;
• a description of the work you say has been copied;
• where the material appears on Lughayangu;
• your address, phone number and email address;
• a statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't allowed by the owner, their agent or the law;
• a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you own the work or are allowed to act for the owner.

We'll look into it promptly and remove material where appropriate. We may disable or close the accounts of people who repeatedly break others' rights.

12. Leaving Lughayangu

You can stop using Lughayangu at any time. To delete your account, email [email protected] from the address on your account. Our Privacy Policy explains what we delete and what we keep.

We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, usually after a warning. If we close your account, you can write to us to ask us to look at it again. Sections 4, 5, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 continue to apply after your account ends.

13. What we can and can't promise

We work hard to make Lughayangu accurate and available, but it is built with many contributors and is provided "as is" and "as available". We don't promise that Lughayangu will meet your needs, will always be available, will be free of errors, or that errors will be fixed. Meanings, translations and history can contain mistakes. Please check anything important, such as a legal, medical or official translation, with a qualified person, or hire our translation service.

Information sent over the internet, including email, isn't always secure, and we aren't responsible for losses caused by information intercepted in transit.

We may change, pause or stop any part of Lughayangu at any time, with or without notice.

14. Limits on our liability

When we make contributions available, we act as a host for what people share. As far as the law allows, Lughayangu and its directors, employees and agents are not liable for:

• content posted by others, including claims of defamation, infringement, invasion of privacy or publicity rights, obscenity, profanity, fraud or misrepresentation;
• websites and services we link to or embed;
• indirect, incidental or consequential losses, or loss of data, profit or opportunity;
• events outside our reasonable control.

For paid services, our total liability is limited to the amount you paid us for that service. Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under the law where you live that can't be limited by agreement.

15. Covering our costs

You agree to defend, cover and protect Lughayangu and its directors, employees and agents against any claims, losses, damages, penalties and costs (including reasonable legal fees) that arise from your contributions, your breach of these terms, or your infringement of anyone else's rights.

16. Using Lughayangu from anywhere in the world

Lughayangu is operated from Kenya and used around the world. Laws differ between countries, and we don't promise that everything on Lughayangu is suitable or allowed everywhere. If you use Lughayangu outside Kenya, you're responsible for following the laws that apply where you are.

17. Disagreements

If something goes wrong, please write to us first. Most problems are solved quickly that way. These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya, and the courts of Kenya will handle any dispute we can't resolve together. If you live outside Kenya and the law where you live gives you the right to bring a claim in your local courts, these terms don't take that right away.

18. Changes to these terms

When we make a meaningful change to these terms, we'll update the date at the top and put a notice on the site. For big changes, we'll also email account holders. If you keep using Lughayangu after a change, the new terms apply.

19. The fine print

• These terms, the Privacy Policy, the Cookie Policy and any agreement for a translation job make up the whole agreement between you and us about Lughayangu, and replace any earlier versions.
• If one part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
• If we don't enforce a part of these terms straight away, we can still enforce it later.
• You can't transfer your account or these terms to someone else without our written agreement. We can transfer them, for example if Lughayangu joins or is taken over by another organisation.
• You agree to receive agreements, notices and other messages from us electronically, and that they count as being "in writing". We'll send notices to the email address on your account. Send notices to us at [email protected]; they count as given when we receive them.
• These terms don't create a partnership, joint venture, employment or agency relationship between you and us, except where section 5 says you allow us to act for you.
• Headings are for convenience only and don't change the meaning of these terms.
• If we reasonably ask, you agree to sign any documents needed to confirm what these terms say.

20. Contact us

LUGHA YANGU LIMITED
Email: [email protected]
Post: P.O. Box 7944-40100, Kisumu, Kenya

Copyright © 2026 LUGHA YANGU LIMITED