Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

By downloading, installing, registering, or using the Lalapinta application or website ("the Platform"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

Lalapinta is operated by Dee Empire, a company registered in the Republic of Sierra Leone. These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User") and Dee Empire ("we", "us", "our").

These Terms should be read together with our Privacy Policy and our Cookie Policy, all of which are incorporated by reference.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years of age to use Lalapinta. By accessing or using the Platform, you represent and warrant that:

• You are at least 16 years old;
• You have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement;
• You are not prohibited from using the Platform under any law of Sierra Leone or any other applicable jurisdiction;
• If you are between 16 and 18 years of age, you have obtained the consent of your parent or legal guardian to use the Platform.

We reserve the right to verify your eligibility and to suspend or terminate any account where eligibility requirements are not met.

3. Your Account

Registration

You must provide accurate, complete, and current information when creating your account. You are responsible for keeping your account details up to date. Providing false or misleading registration information is a violation of these Terms.

Account Security

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials. You must notify us immediately at support@dee-empire.com if you suspect any unauthorised access to your account. We are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your credentials.

One Account Per Person

Each person may hold only one account. Creating multiple accounts — including to circumvent a suspension or ban — is a violation of these Terms and may result in permanent removal from the Platform.

Account Suspension and Termination

We reserve the right to suspend, restrict, or permanently terminate your account at any time, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms, engage in behaviour harmful to the community, or if required by applicable law.

4. Acceptable Use

Lalapinta is a platform for genuine social connection, creativity, and commerce. You agree not to use the Platform to:

• Post content that is hateful, abusive, threatening, discriminatory, or that harasses, intimidates, or bullies any individual or group;
• Share sexually explicit, pornographic, or non-consensual intimate images;
• Publish or spread misinformation, deliberately false news, or deceptive content that may cause harm to individuals or the public;
• Impersonate any person, public figure, brand, or organisation;
• Promote, glorify, or incite violence, terrorism, or any illegal activity;
• Send unsolicited bulk messages, spam, or engage in unauthorised advertising;
• Collect or harvest personal data of other users without their consent;
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any system, account, or data on the Platform;
• Upload or distribute malware, viruses, trojans, or any malicious code;
• Infringe the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any third party;
• Engage in any activity that violates the laws of the Republic of Sierra Leone, including the Electronic Crimes Act 2021 (Act No. 8 of 2021), the Public Order Act 1965 (as it relates to defamation and sedition), or the Anti-Terrorism Act 2022;
• Discriminate against or promote hatred towards individuals based on ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.

5. User Content

Ownership

You retain full ownership of the original content you create and post on Lalapinta — including photos, videos, text, audio, and other materials.

Licence to Lalapinta

By posting content on Lalapinta, you grant Dee Empire a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, sub-licensable licence to use, host, store, reproduce, modify (for formatting purposes only), display, and distribute your content solely for the purposes of operating, improving, and promoting the Platform. This licence terminates when you delete your content or close your account, except where copies exist in backups or have been shared by other users.

Your Responsibility

You are solely responsible for all content you post. Lalapinta does not endorse, review, or guarantee the accuracy of user-generated content. You confirm that you have all necessary rights to post any content you upload, and that doing so does not infringe the rights of any third party.

Content Moderation

We reserve the right to remove, restrict, or take down any content that violates these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or applicable law — without prior notice. Repeat violations will result in account suspension or permanent termination.

6. Marketplace Rules

Lalapinta's Marketplace allows users to buy and sell goods and services. If you use the Marketplace as a buyer or seller, you additionally agree to:

• Provide accurate descriptions, pricing, and condition of all listed items;
• Only list items that are legal to sell under Sierra Leone law — including compliance with the Consumer Protection Act and any relevant trade regulations;
• Not list counterfeit, stolen, prohibited, or dangerous goods;
• Honour agreed prices and complete transactions in good faith;
• Not engage in fraudulent listings, false invoices, or payment scams;
• Comply with any seller verification requirements imposed by Lalapinta;
• Resolve disputes with buyers or sellers through good-faith negotiation, escalating to Lalapinta support if necessary.

Lalapinta acts as a platform to facilitate connections between buyers and sellers. We are not a party to any transaction and are not responsible for the quality, safety, legality, or delivery of any goods or services listed on the Marketplace.

7. Creator Programme

Lalapinta offers a Creator Programme that provides a path to monetisation for eligible users. Participation in the Creator Programme is subject to:

• Meeting the published milestone thresholds (followers, engagement, account age, posting consistency, and account verification);
• Compliance with these Terms and our Creator Programme guidelines at all times;
• Account and identity verification as required by Lalapinta;
• Compliance with applicable Sierra Leone tax law — creators are responsible for declaring and paying any tax obligations arising from earnings received through the Platform.

Lalapinta reserves the right to modify the Creator Programme terms, eligibility criteria, and payout structures at any time with reasonable notice to active programme participants.

8. Intellectual Property

All elements of the Lalapinta Platform — including its name, logo, brand identity, design, interface, software, algorithms, and features — are the exclusive intellectual property of Dee Empire and are protected under the Copyright Act 2011 of Sierra Leone and applicable international intellectual property treaties.

You may not copy, reverse-engineer, decompile, modify, distribute, sell, sublicense, or create derivative works of any element of the Platform without Dee Empire's express written permission.

If you believe content on Lalapinta infringes your intellectual property rights, please submit a notice to legal@dee-empire.com with full details of the alleged infringement.

9. Privacy

Your use of Lalapinta is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. The Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal data in accordance with the ECOWAS Supplementary Act A/SA.1/01/10 on Personal Data Protection and applicable Sierra Leone law. Please review the Privacy Policy carefully.

10. Payments & Premium Features

Lalapinta is currently free to download and join. Core social and marketplace features are provided at no cost.

If we introduce optional paid features, subscriptions, or in-app purchases in the future, we will:

• Clearly disclose all pricing, billing periods, and what is included before any charge is applied;
• Provide you the opportunity to review and accept updated terms before being charged;
• Offer cancellation options in accordance with Sierra Leone consumer protection principles.

Creator Programme payouts (if and when introduced) will be subject to separate payment terms and will comply with applicable Sierra Leone financial regulations.

11. Disclaimers

Lalapinta is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

In particular, we do not warrant that:

• The Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free from viruses or harmful components at all times;
• Content on the Platform is accurate, complete, reliable, or up to date;
• Any defects or errors will be corrected;
• The Platform will be compatible with all devices or operating systems.

Lalapinta is not responsible for the conduct of users, whether online or offline, and does not endorse any user-generated content.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by the laws of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dee Empire and its directors, employees, agents, and partners shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages — including loss of profits, loss of data, loss of goodwill, or business interruption — arising from your use of, or inability to use, Lalapinta.

Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising under or in connection with these Terms shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid to use the Platform in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) USD $100.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be excluded under mandatory Sierra Leone law.

13. Termination

By you: You may delete your account at any time through the in-app settings. Upon deletion, your data will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

By us: We may suspend or permanently terminate your access to Lalapinta at any time, with or without prior notice, if:

• You violate these Terms or our Community Guidelines;
• We are required to do so by applicable law or order of a competent court or authority;
• We determine it is necessary to protect the safety of users or the Platform.

Upon termination, your right to use Lalapinta ceases immediately. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature survive termination — including Sections 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, and 14 — shall remain in full force and effect.

14. Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms of Service are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Sierra Leone, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

Any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or in connection with these Terms, including any question as to their validity, interpretation, breach, or termination, shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Sierra Leone.

Relevant Sierra Leone legislation that may apply to your use of the Platform includes, but is not limited to:

• Electronic Crimes Act, 2021 (Act No. 8 of 2021) — governing electronic crimes, cybercrime, and online content
• Copyright Act, 2011 — intellectual property protection
• Companies Act, 2009 — business registration and conduct
• Public Order Act, 1965 — provisions relating to public speech and conduct (as amended)
• ECOWAS Supplementary Act A/SA.1/01/10 on Personal Data Protection — regional data protection framework applicable in Sierra Leone as an ECOWAS member state

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms at any time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by posting a prominent notice in the Lalapinta app and/or sending an email to the address associated with your account at least 14 days before the changes take effect (except where changes are required by law, in which case they may take effect immediately).

Your continued use of Lalapinta after the effective date of the updated Terms constitutes your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree with any change, you should stop using the Platform and may close your account.

16. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about these Terms of Service, please contact us: