Gulu and Kitgum extend appreciation for their designed online platforms

The long journey across the country that started on Tuesday, all the way from the west to the North of the country (Uganda) did not go unfruitful full. With RIC-NET ICT staff Yosia and Charles Asiimwe travelling to Gulu and Kitgum for the training of the District leaders and stake holders on the use and utilization of their websites and E-libraries.

The training that started on Thursday 6^th - 7^th Dec. 2012 was attended by District leaders from Gulu and kitgum and ACORD staff. A total number of 16 participants attended this interactive two days training at Kakanyero Hotel in Gulu Municipality.

Training session 

With a bright Thursday morning, the participants were introduced to the basics and fundamentals of ICT (web browsing). A number of terms were explained to the participants which was like an ice breaker to the rest of the training.

There was later a questions and answers session that was so interactive and interesting and members consulted on a number of issues and solutions were given by the facilitators accordingly.

The second session later characterized by an introduction of web applications used to develop their websites sites was presented to them among which was basics to Joomla since they (District leaders) are supposed to update their sites on their own later after the end of the project in order to sustain them and keep up to date information on the sites.

This was later followed by a number of practical skills where they were showed how it works and how easy it is to use the application to develop their online platforms.

Questions and clarifications were made by end of day and the training ended at 5:00 pm given the heavy load that the facilitators had to give to the participants.

Later in the evening the RIC-NET staff who were also the facilitators in this case were a given a platform by ACORD on 102 Mega FM in Gulu town to explain to the entire Acholi region about the relevance of the online platforms being developed in the “Enhancing Civic competence for Social Accountability project” that is being run in the 25 Districts in the five regions of Uganda.

RIC-NET staff on Mega FM-Gulu

Present for the talk show were Loum Benard from ACORD (Project officer), Juma the radio presenter and moderator for the talk show, Peter Ocen (Gulu District ICT Officer), Charles Asiimwe Sytems Admin.RIC-NET and Yosia Baluku (ICTO-RIC-NET).

A number of issues were explained to the entire community of Acholi which among others include, the history of the website project by UCC, the home pages and how the social accountability project came in to offer support after all had not gone on well previously.

A number of advantages for these online platforms to the District administration, business community and the entire citizens of Acholi were explained and among others included;

Ø  Global publication of the Districts’ opportunities, potentials e.t.c

Ø  Repository for the district information and thus stored safely for long

Ø  Districts adverts and current news updates on time

Ø  Timely and relevant information

Ø  Easy access to public documents

Ø  Help researchers get right information about the status of the districts in which ever department e.t.c

Listeners called in later at the end of the show and gave their views, others appreciated and others were also seeking for more clarification and guidance and also others supplementing.

 Day two started with a recap of day one that was also another interactive and participatory one. This indicated that the participants had grasped a number of issues from the day one training.

Participants were later given more details of the installation of joomla and later sites presented to them. They appreciated the design of the sites and e-libraries that are hosted at www.kitgum.go.ug , www.gulu.go.ug , http://elibrary.gulu.go.ug/ , http://elibrary.kitgum.go.ug/ .

Later the District leaders gave comments, input and suppliments on their sites what to change and what to improve. All changes were noted and promised to be effected.

Members also appreciated the design of the e-libraries and said it was much easier to interact and work with after being taken through the session of login and updating them.

Later a session of the social media that has eased communication and information sharing was presented to them. Skype, twitter among others was introduced to the participants and promised to take them on for easy information sharing.

Way forward

Since there was limited data for their sites they all promised to avail the necessary information to have everything done for their sites.

They also agreed on some login details for their e-libraries to go and do practice

And that also incase of any technical issues they would not hesitate getting back to us.

They also expressed a concern that the two days training was not enough and that more trainings should be extended to individual districts.

In her closing remarks the Deputy Chief Administrative officer Kitgum Ms Oroma Rhoda  expressed gratitude for the training and thanked ACORD that had brought the facilitators on board for the wonderful training and support to the districts.

C.A.O Gulu giving closing remarks

The function was later officially closed by the chief Administrative officer Gulu Ms.Odwar Santa who expressed her sincere thanks for the training and also said it was nice and good for the district leaders. She challenged them to take on the responsibility and share with the rest of the leaders when they go back. She also said the leaders should have gone with enough skills since she had grabbed a number of things for the little time she was there “for the little time I have sat here, I have been able to understand and learn more. So for you who have been here for two days, I believe you should grasped a lot”

She wished everybody a very safe journey back to their destinations and thereafter a lunch on at the very hotel Kakanyero.

Participants pose for a group photo after the training

CEWIT holds a TV programme on Social Accountability

CEWIT  held a TV programmes on Social Accountability on Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC TV) on Thursday 1st November, 2012. 

As the Christians  were celebrating All Saints Day on 1st November,  CEWIT members were giving accountability to the Nation about what has been the highs and lows of the Social accountability programmes being implemented in  the twenty  five Districts  of Uganda.  Members also discussed how to over overcome the challenges so far realized. 

Brenda UBC TV (right), Jean Asipkwe (CEFORD) and Jimmy (RWECO) at the UBC TV on Nov. 1st, 2012

Brenda (host at UBC TV) was in charge of the 1 O'clock UBC TV talk show where Jimmy B. Odyek (RWECO) and Jean Asipkew Christabel (ED CEFORD) were in the studios to talk about CEWIT. The topics covered were on the citizens participation in the local government processes, service delivery in the Education, Health, Production and the revival Cooperative in Uganda. 

This social Accountability project is supported by EU and HIVOS, implemented by CEWIT member organisations such as: CEFFORD (west Nile region), ACORD (Northern region), PAC -Uganda (Teso region), FRHR ( Central region) and RWECO ( Rwenzori region). http://cewit.or.ug

Kyegegwa and Kyenjojo Districts sign MOUs for E-society Resource Centres and Technology for Social Accountability

RIC-NET signed Memorandums of understandings this morning with  Kyegegwa and Kyenjojo  Local Government leaders.

This comes after several round table meetings and presentations to the Technical Planning Committees (TPC) of the benefits the Districts are planned to gain by embracing the e-society and online platforms. The  e-society resource centre and online platforms are  to supporting the“Enhancing Civic Competence for social accountability” project that is being piloted in 25 Districts in the five regions of Uganda under the Citizens Election Watch-IT (CEW-IT) consortium.This EU/HIVOS funded project implemented is implimented by RWECO members (RIC-NET, Ride Africa, KALI, GHRD) in Rwenzori region and the ICT key partner RIC-NET was mandated to implement the e-society components. RIC-NET agreed to the design and develop District websites and E-libraries; provide five computers, Photocopier and Fly box for internet connectivity to each District. This equipment will form the e-society resource centre that will enable easy information sharing and access to the entire community.

In Kyegegwa, the MOU was signed by  the District Chief Administration Officer, the District Chair Person Hon. B  Norman and witnessed by Mr.Kuteesa the District planner .  RIC-NET Executive Director  M John Silco and ICT Officer Mr. Yosia Baluku represented RWECO/RIC-NET.

C.A.O Kyegegwa and RIC-NET ED append signatures on the MOU

 In his remarks the ED RIC-NET informed the Districts leaders that ICT equipments will be delivered early next year 2013 and so they need to be citing a free room that could accommodate the e-society resource room. The main component for this year is to have the Districts websites and e-libraries up and running before December 2012

In his remarks the LC5 chairperson Kyegegwa District Hon.Birungi Norman thanked RIC-NET for all efforts to see that ICT is being spearheaded in local governments. He also requested that the lower local governments be included on the District website.
 The CAO of the same District was so grateful for the support from CSOs towards ICT development in the District.

In Kyenjojo,  the MOU was signed by Mr. Martin Jacan Gwokto the Deputy CAO and witnessed by Mr.Kamara the District Information Officer. Mr. Martin was so grateful about the initiative and promised the District committment to impilmentation of the e-society platform  for better information sharing and service delivery tracking.

Deputy CAO and DIO Kyenjojo & ED RIC-NET signing the MOU

RIC-NET promised the present the District website designs for approval next week in order  the Districts officals harmonize their requirements and acceptance thereafter be uploaded and run online.

Kyegegwa will be hosted at www.kyegegwa.go.ug while Kyenjojo will be hosted at www.kyenjojo.go.ug. The electronic library will be a component on the websites that will allow districts to upload public documents that can be accessed by anybody anywhere in the universe.

Uganda rejects criticisms of dissent intolerance

 

Date: Oct 17, 2012  as Published by The NewVision

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/636496-uganda-rejects-criticisms-of-dissent-intolerance.html

 

Uganda’s deputy Justice and Constitutional affairs minister has sharply rejected opposition criticisms that the government is intolerant of dissenting views.

Uganda’s constitution protects the freedom of expression and association as well as the freedom to demonstrate peacefully.

“However, when you are doing that, do it in such a way that you do not also infringe on the rights of others,” said Freddie Ruhindi. “I think that is a fair qualification within the constitution.

“The government has been tolerant,” he added. “Every type of media is in Uganda. Tell me which paper has Uganda banned? They write whatever they want to write and if anybody is aggrieved by what anyone is writing, he or she goes to court, either for libel or for defamation. That’s legitimate.”

The political opposition and civil society groups have often accused the government of infringing on their constitutional rights. They contend that state security agencies frequently arrest, intimidate and crackdown on opposition protests. The government rejects their criticisms as without merit.

According to an interview by Voice of America, Ruhindi also dismissed a human rights report that President Yoweri Museveni’s administration has refused to investigate the deaths of at least 40 people during two days of rioting three years ago.

Uganda rejects criticisms of dissent intolerancePublish Date: Oct 17, 2012

In its report, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the government has yet to investigate the deaths during the “Kayunga riots” despite numerous promises to do so. Human Rights Watch said a parliamentary committee examining the incident has stalled, failing to call any witnesses. No police or military members, the rights group said, have been held accountable for the violence.

“The long government inaction on the killings of people in September 2009 is an insult to victims. Resorting to lethal force without clear justification in the face of protests is unacceptable, yet it is becoming the norm in Uganda,” said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

On September 10 and 11, 2009, Ugandan security officials tried to prevent the cultural leader of the Buganda ethnic group from traveling to Kayunga, a town near the capital, Kampala. His enraged supporters took to the streets in protest. They threw stones and set garbage on fire.

Human Rights Watch said the military and police responded by shooting into the crowd, leaving at least 40 protesters dead.

Ruhindi said the government is working on measures to investigate the incident and prosecute those responsible.
“I wish those [accusers] could be frank enough to say that government should actually investigate all wrongdoers,” said Ruhindi.

“Where in the world would you find an ordinary person hitting a policeman or policewoman?  Where, other than Uganda and that person goes scot free?” he asked.

Accessed on Wednesday 17/10/2012  from:

Govt to recruit 6,172 health workers - Mbabazi

Govt to recruit 6,172 health workers - Mbabazi

Govt to recruit 6,172 health workers - MbabaziPublish Date: Sep 26, 2012

Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi

.

By Joyce Namutebi and Henry Sekanjako

Twenty three ministries and government bodies are to undergo budget cuts as the MPs and the Executive agreed to give the health ministry additional sh49.54b.

The agreement brought to an end a week-long protracted debate on the issue.

Of this, sh6.5b  will cater for recruitment of 6,172 health centre personnel, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi said on Tuesday.

He told MPs that on instructions of Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga on Thursday, the Executive and the budget committee met and agreed on the additional financing for the health sector. They, he added, had since held several consultations before harmonising their positions.

There was heated exchange between the MPs and the Government as they tried to reach a mutually agreeable position.

Mbabazi assured them that the Government would provide additional sh49.54b for recruitment and remuneration of health workers for health centres.

“We all agreed on the urgent need to improve the health care in the country. Therefore, we shall now address the human resource challenges so as to have a properly functioning system at the local government level throughout the country,” he said.

“We have managed to struggle and get sufficient funds to embark on the recruitment of a total of 6,172 health personnel.

Accordingly, we have managed to identify additional sh6.5b as seed money to enable the Ministry of Health to start on this endeavour,” Mbabazi said, in his statement to the House.

He said this will be provided by the Ministry of Finance through a supplementary well -costed work plan.

Personnel to be recruited are senior medical officers, medical officers, senior clinical officers, clinical officers, anesthetic assistants, enrolled nurses, enrolled midwives, laboratory technicians, nursing officers and midwives.

The ministries to suffer the budget cuts to raise the sh6.5b as public service, justice, lands, trade, works, energy, gender, water, Local Government, information and tourism. Government bodies include the National Planning Authority, Uganda Tourism Board, Uganda Registration Services Bureau, KCCA, Local Government Finance Commission and NEMA.

Others are NAADS secretariat, Uganda National Bureau of Standards, Uganda Cotton Development Organisation, Uganda Land Commission, National Forestry Authority and Uganda Coffee Development Authority.

He said medical officers working at Health Centre III will earn sh2.5m per month, including an enhanced consolidated allowance.

At Health Centre IV, the Government will employ two medical doctors and 47 other professional workers and support staff while at Health Centre III, a total of 19 health workers and support staff.

He said sh3b will cover the recruitment process costs while sh3.5b is available to pay the wage bill of the people recruited.

Health minister Dr. Christine Ondoa told Parliament that besides the recruitment ban, one other challenge has been the poor remuneration of doctors.

“That is why we have not been attracting and retaining doctors at Health Centre IVs which was not covered by the recruitment ban,” she said.

Aruu county MP Odonga Otto said there were 507 unfulfilled government promises and that giving only health workers was being selective.

Cecilia Ogwal, the Woman MP for Dokolo said the supplementary budget is not allowed according to the Budget Act because it preempts Parliament actions

The chairman of the health committee, Sam Lyomoki, said the move was a positive direction for the people of Uganda.

Emmanuel Ddombo, the MP for Bunyole County, said more mothers would die if the budget had been postponed again.

Tim Lwanga MP Kyamuswa agreed that the proposal presented by the Prime Minister was acceptable.

Betty Amongi said the committee on health sat with the Ministry of Health and gave a detailed work plan that is why it had recommended sh260b and was shocked that the Prime Minister was asking for a new workplan.

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga said they need to save the country from the budget tension by passing it as soon as possible.

Accessed on Wed. 26^th September, 2012 from: http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/635635-govt-to-recruit-6-172-health-workers---mbabazi.html

The Journey to Ssese Islands, Kalangala District

No pot holes but we need life jackets: Jimmy aboard MV Kalangala

Whereas we talk of potholes, I wonder why we  forget one of the other sectors in the trasport sector, of course its the water transport. I had not travelled by the MV Kalangala till when i got an opportunity to join FHRI in Kalangala to facilitate a workshop on sensitizing the communities and district leadership on the Neighborhood Assembly concept. The journey from the Rwenzori Mountains to Kampala was the usual stories of potholes, then through to Entebbe beating trafic jam. Now, after boarding the ferry the language changed from potholes to life jackets. Ofcourse no life jacket was provided it was another experience of how our friends who ply the water transport  also have a different language. I want to share my travel experience and the efforts government has done to take services nearer to the people. Indeed, during the trip to Kalangala, alot of questions were lingering my mind, do we need more districts or improved services! While I flipped through the newvision of Wed. 19 September, more scandles had been unearthed by the Police investigating the pension scandles of Ugx 63Bn. Now that reminded me of the Ugandan rich class who accumulate wealth by hook or crook. Boarding MV Kalangala, shows how somebody put service above self. The question of social accountability was answered and if other players could emulate those who bothered to provide the MV Kalangala service, then we can think of transforming Uganda to another level in the next 20 years.



All was not roses as from Ssese Islands to Bufumira Islands, the ferry was a past tense, we were ushered into a boat in real life, we had never travelled in a boat. We all said our last prayers but with hope we reached our distination after 30Minutes. On the water live in the air, but this time around with lfe jackets. The experienced team briefed us about ettiquette on water and to keep our life jackets on. It was another talk of the day while we kept comparing transport on water, potholes and bringing services nearer to the people. My concern was, which sector needs immediate attention. People who complain of potholes or those who need life jackets.  If we were given to make a budget while in Kalangala the attention could be on life jackets and improving the services.



 

Rose (Right and Jimmy) aboard a boat to Bufumira Island. Chris (DGAP) was on the same boat

As development workers, expect to reach all categories of people, it takes courage to board a boat while many people would have asked, is the boat insured? but what about those who use the travel without life jackets, arent they part of the citizens that we claim to speak for? I apploud the district leadership of Kalangala for taking a risk by accepting to work and serve our people. Rose of FHRI, has shown what is meant by working with the vulnerable groups..

Thanks

Jimmy and Rose
In the field, Kalangala District

CEWIT’s Experience in observing Butambala County by-elections

The journey to Butambala District was another new experience in my field of governance in Uganda. This time it was not training the monitor or having feedback meetings with the district Authorities but observing the electoral process for the Member of Parliament in Butambala County after court had nullified election of Hon. Kikulukunyu after a petition by Kivumbi accusing  Kikulukunyu of  voter bribery.  With the Tags accredited observer by the electoral commission secretary on neck, we  headed to Butambala as a team of six people from CEWIT Offices.

 Although we did not know the road that leads to Butumbala as a team we were confident that we would find the right place phone thanks to the Emma who used the  smart Phone that acted us a guiding tool for direction and within an hour we had reached Butambala district. No wonder, on the first sight one would see the tension of the community members because of heavy deployment of the police at all the 13 polling station visited. It is not surprising that inspector general of Police Gen. Kaihura had joined the police and ready to prevent violence related incident which would affect the voting process for 5 candidates contesting for elections and these are Kivumbi Muhammed Muwanga, Faisal Kikulukunyu, Ibrahim Batemyetto, Ssentomgo Shariff and Farouk walungama.

 Our work started when we visited Nakatooke Umea P/S polling station where 100 voters had  voted out of 411 registered voters.  Three candidates had agents at the polling station while Farouk Walungama was the candidate who did not have an agent at most of the polling stations. We later headed to Kabira polling station by 12:30 and we were surprised that there were no electoral commission staffs putting on uniforms.  We visited 13 polling station, it was important to note that elections between 7:30 and 8:30 where the delay was caused by time taken offloading and distributing voting materials. Unlike the usual complaints that the voting materials were not enough,  this time it was the reverse as it was proved in all the polling stations visited the voter materials (the voters register, ink, ballot papers) were enough.

Together with my colleagues, John, Jane, Rosee, Vincent and Emma we visited the tally centre at 4: OO Pm and there was heavy police deployment at the centre with several police vehicles and antiriot untouchable vehicles. The situation was cum and the members for the voting process to end and process of tallying to begin after 5:00 PM.

The results were announced as follows by EC at 12:00PM where Kivumbi Muhammed Muwanga  had 14,764 votes, Faisal Kikulumunyu 12,792 votes, Ibrahim Batemyetto 150 votes, SSentongo sheriff 124 votes and Farouk Walungama got 60 votes.  Basing on the results of this election, i feel there is still need for increased CIVIC education as the number of invalid votes is still high for example 6 votes were invalid at mayugwe while at Kyerima polling station 16 votes were invalid. There is need for improved time management in the process of starting elections as most elections started late compared to 7:00 am when election are supposed.  It would be unfair I do appreciate the good practice of having a supervisor on every polling station was a very good practice that should be replicated in other elections. With the above I feel the electoral process in Butambala was relatively free and fair.

Sheila K
RWECO

LUWERO DISTRICT LOCAL GOVERNMENT READY FOR THE ICT PLATFORM FOR SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

The Deputy District Chief Administrative Officer, Mr. Oketayot C.  James assured a team of Civil Society Organization under CEW-IT consortium, that the District is willing to embrace the e-society platforms for social accountability.

James, stated that as long as the platform assures verification of the content uploaded, its a good contributions to enabling receiving feedback on service delivery from the citizens to whom the District serves.

This was supported by the District Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Mr. Segawa Godfrey who asked the CSOs to raise awareness about the project from not only the civil servants but the Political leaders and the Citizens who own the District. He preferred that this sensitization should be in local languages and embracing all the media channels.

The CFO asked the District Information officer (DIO) Ms Nakibuuka Stellah to prioritize the e-society components costs such as contribution to website hosting, e-library in her department budget when the CSO contribution ends in December 2014.

On their part, CSO representative led by Ms Rose Nanyonjo from FRHI and Mr. John Silco from RIC-NET assured the District civil servants leaders that their organization commit to develop a dynamic website, e-library, a bulk sms platform, a citizens voice (feedback) platform and support training of the District staff to maintain these platforms. The domain name registrations and hosting charges for all theses platforms will be met by the CSO with support from HIVOS and EU for 24 months. The CSO asked the District to request for the originally Domain name www.luwero.go.ug from UCC so as the district identify is continued. At this point a question was asked about the linkage between this project and e-government initiative of the government to which CSO members said that he two projects are complimentary.

Members of the CSO fraternity assured the District that this is part of the project that is enhancing Social Accountability in 25 Districts of the 5 regions in Uganda. The informed meeting that its regional implemented by RWECO, FHRI, ACORD, PAC Uganda and CEFORD in Rwenzori, Central, Teso, Acholi and West Nile regions respectively. All these effort are coordinated by CEW-IT (Citizens Election Watch –IT ) and RIC-NET is the ICT partner of all the consortium members.

The DCAO ended the roundtable discussion appreciating the efforts of CSO towards the District on Social accountability and promised the District leaders will sign the MOU with FHRI when properly printed as they had found no problem with the draft that was provided.

Ruhaama platform irks Ms Museveni

By PEREZ RUMANZI
Posted  Friday, August 17  2012 at  01:00

In Summary

Undermined?. Ms Museveni accuses district and sub-county councillors and LC3 chairpersons of undermining her authority as the area MP by demanding for service delivery through platforms.

The Ruhaama Constituency MP and First Lady, Ms Janet Museveni, has reportedly criticised leaders in the area for creating a forum to discuss development challenges without her knowledge.

In a closed door meeting with area leaders at Nyarutuntu, the headquarters for Ruhaama County on Monday, Ms Museveni reportedly accused area councillors, LC chairpersons and other leaders of undermining her authority as the area MP, by creating a forum to demand for service delivery behind her back.

Ms Museveni also demanded for the disbandment of the platform dubbed Eishazi rya Ruhaama, which the leaders contested.
“The First Lady has been misinformed by her close aides in Ntungamo that we have formed a platform to fight her, that we want to bring someone to stand against her in 2016 which is not the case,” Mr Denis Muhumuza, the Itojo Sub-county Councillor and chief platform mobiliser, told Daily Monitor on Wednesday.
Mr Muhumuza further added that the purpose of the platform is to discuss development in the area and is not politically motivated.

The forum, which started at the end of last year, has convened several times and deliberated on issues like creation of Ruhaama District from Ntungamo and tarmacking of the Ntungamo-Mirama Hills road.

However, a source, who attended the closed door meeting, says Ms Museveni was reportedly irked by the demand to create Ruhaama District without first consulting her .

“If we are to bring out anything related to Ruhaama, I believe there is your member of parliament where these ideas can pass. Why then do you have to go out and form those so called organisations? We cannot allow this to continue,” Mr Muhumuza quoted Ms Museveni as saying.hare This Story

The Ruhaama Sub-county chairperson, Mr Tom Rwomushana, who was also in the meeting, said many of them were angered by Ms Museveni’s misconception of other people’s ideas.

“Does she feel she is the only person to plan for us? We too want to discuss our ideas. We have talked about this road for a long time. We can’t keep quiet as we are also being criticised by our people,” Mr Rwomushana said.

The Ntungamo District chairperson, Mr Denis Singahache, confirmed the meeting took place but declined to disclose the details.

Ms Museveni’s political assistant George Bakunda also acknowledged that the meeting was chaired by the First Lady who was not happy with the conduct of the area leaders.

“That group is serving its interests and not programmes of the MP. The MP is not happy with what they are doing. She said there should always be one leaders’ meeting which she should chair,” Mr Bakunda told Daily Monitor yesterday.