Month: October 2014

There is Need for Civil Society to also Give Accountability to the Public

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Local leaders have called on the civil society to also give public accountability to enable better utilization of community resources for improved livelihoods. The call was made by the Executive Director of Toro Development Network (ToroDev) Mr. Baguma Johnstone and the Kabarole district Community Based Services Coordinator Mr. Taddeo Balisanga during the weekly accountability live radio discussion called Orukurato held on Saturday, 18th October 2014 at Hits FM.

“It’s  the responsibility of every registered Civil society organization to give accountability to whoever needs it or asks for it, as Civil society organization it important to let people know, how money is spent, the services it was spent on, future the plans of the organization.” Said Johnstone Baguma.

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Kicwamba Forum for Development and Service Delivery Demands Accountability from the Local Leaders

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On 30th September 2014, members of Kicwamba Forum for Development and Service Delivery organized an accountability meeting in Kicwamba Sub County, Kabarole District. The meeting was attended by different local leaders both at the district and sub county level, who were able to give accountability to their local citizens. The leaders included the area councilor Hon Twesige Clovis, the LC III Chairperson Hon Businge Charles, the CDO (Community Development Officer) Kicwamba Sub County Mr. Kahingwa Stephen, the LCI Chairperson Hon Kalenzi, among others.

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ICT and Governance in East Africa: Preliminary Fieldwork Findings (Part 2) Mwanza, Tanzania

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BY VARYANNE SIKA.

The last week of August 2014 was an opportunity for the iHub Research team to explore the various ways in which ICT tools have/can successfully facilitate or hinder two way interaction between government and citizens towards effective public service delivery, curbing corruption, enhancing access to information and increasing transparency and accountability in Tanzania. The team visited Mwanza and Dar es Salaam to identify some of the innovative ICT initiatives that have facilitated the interaction between citizens and government as well as the (de)motivations for utilizing ICT tools among the various stakeholders (citizens, governments, civil society). While in Mwanza region we visited Magu district and Ilemela district.

READ ON THE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS IN DAR-ES-SALAAM HERE.

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ICT and Governance in East Africa: Preliminary Fieldwork Findings (Part 1) Dar es salam, Tanzania

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BY VARYANNE SIKA.

The ICT and Governance in East Africa study explores the various ways in which ICT tools can/have successfully facilitated or hindered two way interaction between government and citizens towards effective public service delivery, curbing corruption, rights/access to information, as well as increasing transparency and accountability. Further we are looking into the innovative ICT initiatives that have facilitated the interaction between citizen and government as well as the (de)motivations for utilizing ICT tools among the various stakeholders (citizens, governments, civil society).

READ MORE ON THE PROJECT HERE.

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Ntoroko District Health Officer Gives the Performance of the Health Sector of Ntoroko District

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On 11th October 2014, the District Health Officer of Ntoroko District Dr. Sentamu Simon appeared on HITS FM to give the performance of the health sector in Ntoroko District. “According to the Health Center IV level of Ntoroko District, we always make orders of medicine to National Medical Stores every after two months that is worth nine million and six hundred thousand (for Karugutu Health Center IV), four million for health center IIIs, and one million and five hundred thousand for health center IIs”. The panelist was discussing on ToroDev’s live radio discussion called ‘Orukurato Program’, a live radio discussion that discusses issues of accountability every Saturday (08:00-10:00) pm.

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Update on ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network Activities January – June 2014

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By Juliet N. Nanfuka

The network of seven partners (profiles) unified under the ICT4Democracy in East Africa initiative have since 2011 jointly worked to enhance the capacity of citizens and governments in using ICTs to promote human rights, good governance and citizen participation.

Between January and June 2014, the partners each undertook activities that aimed to support the inclusivity of citizens in transparency, accountability and service delivery monitoring through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. These activities are increasing citizens’ participation in decision-making processes and strengthening democracy in the region.

The partners have each created unique approaches to encouraging citizen participation through mobile short message services (SMS), FM radio, social media such as Facebook and Twitter, crowd-mapping platforms and a toll free call centre. Research has also been conducted by some partners on the knowledge and perceptions associated with ICT use and the flow of information between citizens and government.

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Strengthening Accountability and Transparency for Better Service Delivery

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‘Better Life Youth Forum’ is one of the advocacy Forums that were formed by the120 rural monitors who were trained by ToroDev in online advocacy, monitoring service delivery and using online social media tools like Ushahidi plat form for online documentation, visualization and mapping. The forum’s theme is“Strengthening accountability and transparency for better service delivery”with youths and women who demand for accountability and better service delivery from their local leaders in Butiiti Sub County, Kyenjojo District.

Members of Better Life Youth Forum launched their forum on 15th September 2014 at the Sub County Head Quarters of Butiiti Sub County, Kyenjojo District and invited different local leaders who were able to give accountability to over 400 local citizens.

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ICT4Democracy In East Africa Network To Participate In Inaugural Buntwani Conference

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The ICT4Democracy in East Africa network will participate in the first Buntwani conference scheduled to take place October 7–8, 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference is aimed at exploring the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in strengthening citizen engagement and participation in Africa.

The network is made up of organisations pursuing projects that are tackling issues such as corruption, service delivery, respect for human rights, and civic engagement in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The shared goal is to collaboratively leverage on ICTs as tools for promoting good governance and democratisation.

As the use of ICTs in East Africa grows steadily, driven by the availability of cheaper smart phones and the popularity of social media platforms, so does the opportunity through which to utilise these very tools and platforms as avenues for transparency and accountability in governance.

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