Description and Rationale of Meeting
On Wednesday, 19th September, 2012, ToroDev staff held a consultative meeting with local leaders in Kyegegwa District aimed at identifying gaps in service delivery and finding appropriate interventions for improved livelihoods since government services like roads, schools, markets, health centers, NAADS, etc. directly affects the livelihoods of the local people.
This follows ToroDev interventions since 2011 aimed at improving service delivery in the seven districts of Rwenzori Region. The organization has been conducting lobbying and advocacy campaigns, training rural grassroots’ populations in service delivery monitoring and conducting live radio talkshows on HITS FM and Better FM aimed at improving the state of service delivery through engagement with local leaders and awareness creation.
Gaps/Challenges Identified
During the meeting, the local leaders identified a number of gaps affecting service delivery in the district like limited access to information by local politicians from the technocrats, ignorance of the local leaders on the local government laws and policies, political intrigue and divisionism in the district council. Others included limited participation of the local rural grassroot populations in local government planning and budgeting processes, rampant corruption among the civil servants and local leaders, ignorance of the local populations on service delivery monitoring and use of complicated technical languages in Bills of Quantities (BOQ’s) making it hard for the local people and local leaders to comprehend for effective monitoring of service delivery.
Proposals for Intervention
During the meeting, the local leaders proposed a number of interventions aimed at improving service delivery in the district like conducting community dialogue meetings involving local leaders to improve participation of rural grassroot communities in government planning and budgeting processes, monitoring service delivery and demanding accountability from their local leaders. The meeting also proposed conducting monthly review surveys on the performance of the local government councils in the delivery and supervision of public services and finally the orientation of local leaders in relevant local government laws and policies, information access skills, lobbying and advocacy and monitoring service delivery to ensure effective implementation of government services in the district.
The meeting held at Gilman Hotel in Kyegegwa Town Council was attended by Hon. Asaba Paul (District councilor for Kasule SubCounty in Kyegegwa district), Mr. Ignatius Agondeze (Councilor, Kyegegwa Town Council), ToroDev Executive Director Johnstone Baguma, Listener’s Forum Moderator Mukonyezi Wilfred and ToroDev Media & Communications Officer Akugizibwe Solomon. The two local leaders will also participate on the listeners Forum Live radio talkshow on Sunday, 23rd September, 2012 at Better FM to discuss the state of service delivery in Kyegegwa District. The Listeners Forum is held every Sunday (08:00-10:00pm) on Better FM to discuss issues of Public Accountability for Improved Service Delivery.
*The article was cross-posted from the ToroDev Blog