ToroDev held a rural radio debate in Kakabara trading centre Kakabara sub county Kyegegwa district to capture Women and Youths concerns on the state Health, Education, Roads and economic development.

Fifty women (50) women attended the rural radio debate and their issues and concerns were amplified live on listener’s forum program that is supported by ToroDev on Jubilee radio starting from 8pm-10pm on 29^th October 2017 for leader’s intervention.Some of the issues raised include:

“Education system is still alarming at primary & secondary levels, most UPE schools in Kakabara Sub County have limited staff, the infrastructures are not enough, performance is bad, as citizens we request duty bearers and inspectors of schools to inspect these schools”. Said Najuna Joseph during the rural debate. 

“Kakabara III and Kyegegwa health centre IV don’t have electricity they use candles at night. we request the district to work on electricity issues”. Said Kyamanywa Wilson during the rural radio debate.

Mr Mukonyezi Wilfred recording peoples concerns during the rural radio debate 

"There is a lot of environment destruction in Kakabara because people are not sensitized, wetlands have been destroyed due to agriculture this has caused a lot on climate change in the sub county. We request concerned leaders in Kyegegwa district to follow and handle this issues seriously” Said Agaba victor during the rural radio debate.

Victor added that we have failed to benefit in operation wealth we request program coordinators to come on ground and teach people about the program at village and community levels. 

“Most houses in Kakabara don’t have toilets this has contributed to poor hygiene in the whole sub county. People dump rubbish on the road side, some use road side to ease themselves and soon when rain starts we suspect to have an outbreak of cholera. In this case we  request district health officer and team to work on that”. Said Kandole Jonan from Kakabara during the rural debate.

“We have water challenges especially the piped water which takes four days off. We request duty bearers to lobby for boreholes for Kakabara trading centre”. Said Ibrahim from Mwisenyi Senyi Kakabara during the rural debate. 

“Our road that connects Kisamura  and Katamba is impassable  and this has increased transport  and farmers are struggling to transport their produce. We request duty bearers to work hand in hand with community leaders to solve such challenges”. Said Ayebale Christopher during the rural radio debate in Kakabara trading centre.

Comments from Callers: “We also have a big  challenge of lack of  water in Kichmaba Kabarole District”.  Said Kemanzi Maureen from Kirangara Kichwamba Kabarole distict. 

“Kakabara health centre III does not have enough drugs compared to the population in the sub county”. Said Sanyu William a caller from Kakabara Kyegegwa district.

“The road from Kakabara, Kibale to Mpara  is badly off  duty bearers should consider it too, said Michael Happy from  from Kakabara Kyegewa district. 

We are grateful to SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, and CIPESA & all our partners for the financial and technical support.

ToroDev hold a rural radio debate in Kikuba village Kakabara sub county Kyegegwa district to capture Women and Youths concerns on the state of service delivery in Health, Education and Roads.

On 27^th/9/ 2017 ToroDev held a rural radio debate/magazine in Kikuba village Kabara Sub County in Kyegegwa district to capture women and youth concerns on the status of Health, Education, water, roads operation wealth program among others.

The magazine/debate was conducted by ToroDev staff and Mr. Mukonyezi Wilfred, the moderator of Listeners’ Forum’ on Jubilee Fm. The debate was attended by 55 women and their voices recorded by listener’s forum program moderator Mr.Mukonyezi Wilfred and amplified live on Jubilee Fm during Listeners forum program that is supported by ToroDev on  5^th  November, 2017 for leader’s intervention. 

“We do not have clean water in Kikuba, village we request government to work hand in hand with duty bearers to construct for us at least one Borehole”. Said Doreen from Kikuba during the rural debate.

Doreen further added we walk long distances to access health centre in Kakabara and Rwibale which is too costly for us. We request the government to put in place government aided health centre.

“We have increased land wrangles in Kikuba due to the National forest Authority that has chased a big number of citizens from their land; a big number of citizens are now homeless. We request the government to support sub county land committees to solve this problem” Said Kyalimpa Janet from Kikuba during the rural debate.

Program modoretor Mr.Mukonyezi wilfred engaging with women of Kikuba during the rural radio debate.

She added that the education system is alarming due to increased number of school dropout, for example there are inadequate class rooms and desks in Kikuba primary school

“We formed women groups at sub county levels to support each other, but the bigger challenge is we have never benefited from government programs since most of us we lost our husbands, we request the district to consider our groups when support is released by Wealth Creation program”. Said Provia Nsemerwe during the rural debate in Kikuba.

“Our education system is not doing well due to limited number of professional teachers and especially in Kikuba primary school and our children  walk long distances to access secondary education which has caused an increase in  school drop outs, we request duty bearers  to work hand in hand with the government and the community  leaders to lobby for a secondary school Said Tumusime during the rural radio debate in Kikuba.

Participants in a group photo during  the rural radio debate/magazine in Kikuba.

“In Kikuba village we have failed to benefit in operation wealth creation due to poor quality seeds supplied after the season has ended this does not benefit the farmers much because whatever is harvested is consumed at household level, it does not generate income”. Said Monica Kabayonjo from Kikuba.  

During the program listeners also participated in live radio discussion and reacted on the amplified voices from the people of Kikuba village through calls in and the following were their comments:

“The government should improve on service delivery in water, education and road sectors in villages” Said Tumusime a caller from Kibito.

“Duty bearers should work for the people and use their powers and knowledge to lobby for support from NGOs to improve service”. Said David a caller from Mpara sub county Kyegegwa district. 

“Kyegegwa duty bearers have failed to play their roles well and this has increased underperforming sectors such as Education, Health and Roads among others”. Said Potinanta  a caller from Kyegegwa district.

We are grateful to SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, and CIPESA & all our partners for the financial and technical support.

Women, Youth and Duty Bearers from Kanyamukura village, Rwebisengo sub county, Ntoroko District attended a rural radio debate/magazine.

ToroDev held a rural radio debate/magazine in Kanyamukura village Ntoroko district to capture women and youth concerns on the state of service delivery in their area especially on Roads,Water, Health, and Education among others.

The views from Kanyamukura were amplified on 15^th October 2017 on ToroDev supported weekly program “Listener’s Forum” that is aired live every Sunday starting from 8:00-10pm on jubilee FM a local radio station found in Kabarole district for leader’s intervention.

“The following were the key issues raised by the concerned citizens of Kanyamukura Village.

  

”Our roads are  impassable, slippery and they flood during rainy seasons, we have encountered this problem for many years but our elected leaders have not done a lot to lobby for the construction of the main road that connects to the town council.We request our elected leaders to consider this road in the next financial year”. Said Kabatuuku Jamimah a citizen of Kanyamukura Village.

Jamimah further said due to the nature of the roads pregnant mothers have suffered a lot when the due time reaches, some women have restored to avoid going for antenatal check ups and some have even refused to deliver in health centre’s because the roads can’t allow them to move freely to access services. We request the district to work on this road.

“We raised concerns as community members on the issues of Rebisengo to Kanyamukura road we wrote to the district duty bearers but they have failed to help us on that issue as leaders at a lower level we can’t do anything now other than waiting and reminding the leaders all the time” Said Kyomuhendo A LC1 chairperson Kanyamukura 2 in Rwebisengo.

Women,youth and leader who attended the Rural Radio Debate in Kanyamukura Ntoroko district

Leaders promised to work on Kacwankuna  road during the  last campaigns but up to now it’s in a sorry state which is even a problem to farmers .We request duty bearers to come back on ground and give accountability,” Said Kato Robert during the rural debate in Ntoroko district.

“The only primary school we have in Kanyamukura village has only  four class from 1-4 classes and after P.4 children walk long distances to access education in Rwebisengo town council which is a challenge to our children and this has resulted into high dropouts of both girls and boys who can’t afford to move to town council to access other classes on this note we request duty bearers and DEO Ntoroko district to lobby  for a better primary schools with all classes in this village”. Said Mutegeki Ronald.

“We don’t have any secondary school in Kanyamukura village student’s move 30km to access secondary school which is very costly. We request government to construct a secondary school in our area to solve school dropout challenges within our area”. Said Sight Tagga during the rural radio debate.

 A youth from Kanyamukura sharing  his views to the program moderator.

“Kanyamukura primary school the structures are badly off and they have cracks.We request district education department to work hand in hand with the head teacher to overcome this challenge.”Said Pastor Benjamin. 

“We don’t have a health centre in Kanyamukura village we walk long distances to access health services in Rwebisengo health centre IV. We request our duty bearers to lobby for a health centre in our village to allow patients’ access services nearer”,Said Kiiza penenna during the rural radio debate.

“In Rwebisengo health centre IV we don’t have an ambulance we request duty bearers and health department to lobby for an ambulance such that health services can be improved”. Said Misaki Jackson from Kanyamukura.

Jackson added that we have formed groups but we have failed to benefit from government programs like operation wealth creation and youth livelihood.We request sub county chief and community development officer to come on ground and teach people such that they can also benefit in these programs.

“We don’t have clean water in Butungama we are sharing water with animals. We request the government and water engineer Ntoroko to lobby for piped water and repair our boreholes”. Said Bugoge Ezra during the rural radio debate.

We are grateful to SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, CIPESA & all our partners for the financial and technical support. 

ToroDev yields from Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa organised by CIPESA

By Johnstone Baguma

The Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFA17) was an eye opener for me on different fronts. I was one of the beneficiaries of CIPESA’s support to attend the forum in Johannesburg, South Africa in late September 2017. I would like to extend profound appreciation to organizers CIPESA and APC, who have been our partners in ICT for Development at ToroDev for many years. Their support to participate in the forum greatly exposed me to new dimensions of ICT4D that I had not paid attention to in over 10 years of my practice in this field.

I was particularly impressed by two sessions; Strategic Digital Rights Litigation and Digital Security Clinic, which I would like to spend a few minutes reflecting on here. During the former session, the issue of collaboration in digital litigation was specifically emphasized by session facilitators. When we collaborate, we are likely to be more effective, more creative and more resilient to address abuses of digital use, especial by government authorities. 

ToroDev's Executive Director, Johnstone K Baguma during the workshop in South Africa

 In collaborative litigation, the facilitator asserted that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and collaborators who work together on a given digital litigation matter can help further the bigger cause of protecting and promoting free flow of information online. On my part, I felt this was so important as a front line user of internet and its digital platforms in my professional work and daily social interactions. Digital freedom is a lifeline to the well-being of many citizens in Uganda, socially and economically. In the face of increasing threats to freedom of expression in Uganda and tendencies of gagging free flow of information through broadcast and online media, knowledge networks and collaborations to challenge such digital injustices is imperative. The recent declaration and notice by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) banning live broadcasts of parliamentary proceedings of the Age Limit Debate in Uganda, for example, needed formal collaborative litigation by media houses, digital advocates and civil society organizations. This is because, this notice was issued with full force of government apparatus that has considerable control over almost all public institutions and resources and, therefore, needed a counter collaborative effort to litigate. 

On the other hand, during the digital security session, I was able to receive knowledge and participate in a digital security risk assessment for my personal digital use and that of my organization. Again in Uganda, for example, digital surveillance is increasing day by day. Besides a few isolated cases of digital security offenses committed by individuals like theft and abuse of personal privacy, most cases of surveillance target those who question and advocate for good governance processes and is aided by sections of recent laws like the Computer Misuse Act (2011), Public Order Management Act (2013) and the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act (2010). Majority of those affected belong to civil society movements and lawful political party organizations. 

During this session, I acquired knowledge on conducting digital security assessment with specific identification and analysis of nature of threats, risks, levels of vulnerability, the capacity that myself or organization have to address such digital threats and the type of adversaries that I and my organization should always look out for to curtail their negative impact on our work. In fact as a result of my participation at FIFafrica17, am planning to lead a process of organizing a staff training and conducting a Digital Security Risk Assessment activity at ToroDev by end of December 2017.

We thank SIDA and CIPESA for the opportunity.

ToroDev in partnership with Jubilee radio and Ntoroko concerned citizens Forum held a rural radio debate/magazine targeting women, youth & duty bearers from hard to reach areas in Ntoroko district.

 On 25^th September 2017 ToroDev team held a rural radio debate/magazine in Kakoga cell Rwebisengo in Ntoroko District focusing on the state of service delivery including education, health, water, roads and economic development. The views were recorded by Wilfred Mukonyezi who moderates ToroDev’s supported ‘Listeners’’ Forum’ program that is aired live every Sunday 8-10 pm on Jubilee radio.

The issues gathered during the rural debate were amplified live on 8^th October, 2017 on Jubilee radio for duty bearers’ interventions and listener’s contributions. The area councilor of Kakoga cell in Ntoroko district where the rural debate was carried was hosted live to respond to some of the issues raised by the citizens. 

These are some of the issues raised by community members;

“We request the government to fully supply ARVs on time in Rwebisengo health center IV and improve hygiene in and around the health center. Also increase health workers so that people can access improved health services. Said Muhammad Birungi during the rural radio debate.  Muhamad added that, we have failed to fully engage in operation wealth creation due to poor coordination and late release of seeds. We request the coordinators of the program both at the district and sub county levels to come on ground and solve that issue so that farmers can benefit.

women and youth during the rural radio magazine in Kakoga Ntoroko district.

“We request the government to fully equip Rwebisengo health centre IV with enough drugs that can fully handle the population and solve the problem of staff absenteeism so that health services can be improved,” Said Katusabe Jolly during rural radio debate. Jolly added that, we have registered our group such that we can benefit from operation wealth creation but we have never received seeds and in most cases those who receive them they come late and in small quantities which are not beneficial to farmers.

 A woman in Kakoga sharing her concerns with Mr.Mukonyezi during the rural radio magazine.

“We have applied for youth funds and registered our group at sub county level  but we have failed to be considered, we request leaders to guide us on how we can qualify  and benefit on these funds ,” Said Katusime Nester.

“We don’t have water in Kakoga cell, we request mayor Rwebisengo and Ntoroko district water department to also consider our area especially with borehole so that we can stop spending heavily on water’’, Said Katusabe Grace. Grace added, leaders should increase on monitoring activities especially in  health centers and schools  this will help to solve the problems of absenteeism of teachers ,health workers  and limited drugs  at health centers levels to improve services delivery.

“Leaders pledged to improve on health centres, roads, schools and water during campaign periods  since then they have failed to fulfill their pledges and they have never come back  on ground,” Said Kabasebeni  Beatrice.

We are grateful to SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, and CIPESA & all our partners for the financial and technical support.