The Coordinator of Initiative for Rural Development – Uganda, Bbala Eric has advised local citizens to invest time and resources in acquiring knowledge on financial literacy so as to uplift their livelihoods. “We are poor because of ignorance for instance when we go to invest we invest in poor breeds of cattle. People in the developed countries have a lot of information on savings, investments, planning for old age, credit management and financial service providers among others,” Said Bbala while appearing on the orukurato live radio discussion on 20th December, 2014 to discuss issues of financial literacy.
Category: News
SMS As a Tool for Tracking and Countering Misinformation in the Tana Delta
The Una Hakika?project, which iHub Research is proud to support,focuses on creating an information system in which crowdsourced data is used to map the origins and flow of misinformation within the Tana Delta while also testing the effectiveness of countermeasures in order to reduce the influence of misinformation.
MORE ABOUT THE UNA HAKIKA? PROJECT HERE.
The team spent the last two weeks of November doing an impact assessment of the project on the ground, by conducting focus group discussions in a number of villages in the Tana Delta, where Una Hakika has been able to establish itself and be adopted by community members. The objective was to gain direct feedback from the users and engage them in better improving the service.
Ugandan Local Government Minister Responds to Tracfm Poll Data [Question] on Improving Energy Service Delivery in Rwenzori Sub-region, Western Uganda
The Uganda Minister of Local Government and also MP representing Bunyangabu County, Kabarole District, Hon. Adolf Mwesige has indicated that electricity will be extended to all the rural areas without access to electricity in the near future. “The first thing I did when I was elected to parliament [MP representing Bunyangabu County, Kabarole District] I made a plan of areas in need of electricity in Bunyangabu County.” Said Hon. Adolf.
He adds, “We started connecting trading centres with power lines and trading centres like Buheesi, Kibiito, Kabale, Kasunga Nyanja, Rubona, Kicuucu, etc are now fully connected with electricity because they are connecting centres where many businesses in need of electricity are located.” Said Minister Adolf.
Kabarole District Boss Appeals for More Funding to The Roads Sector
The District Chairperson Kabarole Mr. Richard Rwabuhinga has appealed to the central government leaders to increase funding to the roads sector to improve the livelihoods of the rural communities.
“Most of the sub counties in Kabarole district like Mugusu, Kicwamba, Buheesi, Hakibaale, etc get between UGX 6 to 8 million to support the road sector. What can that small amount of money help to improve the road sector in the entire sub county like Hakibaale? We are therefore appealing to our MPs and the responsible ministry to add us more money to improve the road sector.” Said Mr. Rwabuhinga.
While appearing on the ToroDev supported live radio discussion on accountability called orukurato on 22nd November, 2014, the Kabarole district chairperson also apologized to the people of Kabarole for the poor state of the road networks.
“Citizens Are not Well Sensitized on the Role of MPs” Rwamuhumbu
Mr. Rwamuhumbu Davis, an opinion leader from Kabarole district, Western Uganda has indicated that there is increased ignorance from citizens on the role of their leaders because citizens are not well sinsitised about the constitution.
Mr. Rwamuhumbu was participating on the Orukurato live radio discussion supported by ToroDev on Hits FM, Fort Portal which was broadcast on 8thNovember, 2014 (08:00 – 10:00pm). The topic for discussion was, “What are the roles of Members of Parliament”.
The discussion topic was in response to the tracfm poll question titled, “As a citizen of Uganda, what is the role you expect from your Members of Parliament? Available online at http://tracfm.org/p/view/1178/
ICTS and Governance in East Africa: What Lies Beyond ‘the Hype’?
For the past year, iHub Research has been conducting a study on the impact of ICTs on governance in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Specifically, we set out to assess how ICTs are facilitating interaction between governments and citizens in the areas of civic participation (transparency and accountability), access to information, monitoring government service delivery (health, water) and tracking corruption.
We set out to interact with government institutions, civil society organizations and citizens alike. In Kenya, we conducted the study in Nairobi and Nakuru. In Uganda, we visited Kampala, Apac and Lira. In Tanzania, Dar es Salaam and Mwanza.
For Preliminary findings from all locations, click HERE.
Key findings of particular interest from the three countries are:
It Is Important to Have a Budget, says Expert
The Business Lecturer Mountains of the Moon University, Mr. Mawenu Vicent has appealed local citizens especially in the Rwenzori Region to have a budget to enable them reduce wasteful expenditure and hence improve on their livelihoods.
“It’s important to have a budget, it’s also important to have the discipline to stick to your budget because it will assist you control wasteful spending. It’s also important for people to identify and plan for their basic necessities of life early like feeding, clothing, housing, etc so that they can be able to fulfill them in time to have a better life.” Said Mawenu.
A sample of the Uganda Currency (UGX 50,000)
ToroDev Partners with Kyenjojo FM to Strengthen Accountability Broadcasting for Improved Service Delivery
Toro Development Network (ToroDev) has started a new partnership with Kyenjojo FM based in Kyenjojo District to strengthen accountability broadcasting for improved service delivery. The new partnership involves supporting increased leaders and citizen participation on Ekyererezi and Kihikire accountability live radio discussions on Kyenjojo FM. The new partnership started on 1st October, 2014.
Advertisements will also be run to encourage more women and youth to participate in the live radio discussions. EKYEREREZI live radio discussion is broadcasted every Wednesday from 10:00pm to 12:00am and theKIHIKIRE live radio discussion is broadcasted every day of the week fromMonday to Friday (5:00 am- 6:00 am).
In addition, through the live radio discussions and radio advertisements, ToroDev in partnership with Kyenjojo FM will encourage the formation of more citizen led groups (women and youth) to form advocacy forums at both sub county and district levels to enable effective monitoring of service delivery and participation in government planning and budgeting processes.
Leaders, Citizens and Media Discuss Accountability and Service Delivery Improvement
Over sixty (60) local leaders, local citizens and media practitioners from the Rwenzori Sub Region participated in a reflection conference aimed at improving the convergence of appropriate ICT tools to improve accountability and service delivery especially on priority sectors like roads, schools, health and agriculture among others.
“The role of the District Information Officer is to Gather/collect, analyse, disseminate and store information on service delivery, Moblise public for participation in development programmes and activities and advise management on the need for media matters (e.g. ICT and communication needs.” Said John Thawite, the District Information Officer, Kasese.
There is Need for Civil Society to also Give Accountability to the Public
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.