LESSONS FROM THE LOCAL INITIATIVES BRINGS A SMILE TO FARMERS IN KASESE DISTRICT

Belgium Technical Cooperation (BTC) supported Kasese District Poverty Reduction Program with 4 million Euros from 2009-2013 according to Mr. William Kanyesigye Chief Administrative Officer, Kasese District. Specifically RWECO was concerned about the Ugx. 120,000,000/ that was injected in improving the Muhokya Irrigation Scheme that was aimed ensuring food security and improving household income. The Scheme benefits 350 farmers by ensuring that they are served with constant water from river Muhokya

Muhokya mini Irrigation Scheme dam

The Kasese district poverty reduction improved on the local initiatives that were being used by the farmers in Muhokya river valley to irrigate their crops. Mr. Andrew Mafeela, the LCI chairperson who led the RWECO team to the scheme noted that before the funding from the district, the local citizens would block the river which is about 15ft deep with logs, dry banana leaves, soil and re-chanal the water into their gardens where they had dug two big chanales leading to the plots of land. The farmers ensured that men and women participated in the exercise code named- "MWEKAMBE"

Mr. Andrew ( middle above) explaining to the RWECO team how the irrigation scheme was initiated and how the local communities have benefited.

Children provide labour during holidays

As we traversed through the scheme, we observed that children were helping their parents, on asking whether if  that did not interupt their school time, the Chairperson LCI, Rutooke village, reported that as residents of the scheme, they had developed bye-laws where child labour was condemned and whoever found using child labour was handled according to the laws of Uganda, that instead the scheme was a source of income to keep children in school

A woman identified as Abwooli weeding her tomato garden and clearing the rigs after feeding with water.

Women were appreciative of the scheme and the support from BTC. When asked how much was spent on the scheme, the women were not aware but reported that, alot of money was used and as  residents their need was answered of water to ensure food security and house income.

Family members all participate in gardens

A basket of tomatoes  costed Ugx. 20,000/ as on Thursday 19th, December, 2013 where farmers reported that from one ha they get about 100 bags thus reaping Ugx.  2,000,000/ in a season.

Mr. Andrew one of the beneficiaries of NAADs was given Ugx. 1.8M

 To boost the productivity of farmers in fish farming in Muhokya irrigation scheme, Mr. Andrew was supported with Ugx. 1,800,000/ in 2012/13 NAADS funds. Mr. Andrew prepared the fish pond and stocked the pond with fish from Bugoye sub county with technical support from the Kasese district fisheries department.

A point where water is controlled to reach every farmers

A banana plantation at Muhokya Irrigation Scheme

Water melon is one of the ongoing projects at the scheme

RWECE further noted that Muhokya Irrigation scheme had indeed impacted on the livelihoods of the people of Muhokya sub county and Kasese district as a whole, but the bigger question is why is Kasese district food insecure despite having two irrigation schemes and more chances of more schemes. Further, BTC alone invested Ugx. 9bn ( Kasese District Poverty Reduction Program, 2009-2013) despite all the investment, the district is still food insecure depending on food from Kabarole and Rubirizi districts and the Uganda-DR Congo Border market of Mpondwe-Lhubiriha

As we end the year 2013, we need to evaluate ourselves if we have done anything that contributes to poverty reduction and good governance. RWECO as a policy based CSO in the Rwenzori Region and a mentor to many more CSOs in Uganda, we thank the leadership of Muhokya sub county and the citizens for the good spirit of ensuring that the scheme becomes a reality and for utilizing the funds well. We can use the Muhokya experience to replicate in other parts of the country

Merry Christmas and Happy new 2014

Sheila K
Gilbert M
Andrew M-LCI-Rutooke Village
Jimmy B O

WHO ARE THE POOR: KYENJOJO DISTRICT STAKEHOLDERS DIALOGUE MEETING PROBES CAUSES OF POVERTY

In a  Kyenjojo District conference in at Tooro Royal Cottages on 25^th October 2013 that aimed at  eradicating poverty and the declining standards of Education   Mr. Muhenda  Rujumba the retired CAO of Kamwenge decried the fact Kyenjojo district was always envied and glorified for producing educated and well learned persons.  Mwenge County was re known for having well educated citizens and wealth but this glorious history is gone but fortunately it can be redeemable. Most parents in Kyenjojo would struggle to give their children education despite the little available resources.  The citizens of Kyenjojo would compete for placements in schools like BUDDO, Ntare and Mbarara high.  The question remains will Kyenjojo be able to get a professor who is locally trained in Kyenjojo in this generation? The senior Citizen called for the need to revigorate the education and production sectors.   However,‘’Kyenjojo has embraced the phenomena of why educate my child yet I can get money in business and with this rigorous targets have been made like complete primary education and secondary education and acquire a boda boda and the proceeds is used for pool and gambling” he lamented. The leaders emphasized that the UPE policy doesn’t remove the responsibility of parents in ensuring quality education. He emphasized the need for the community in Kyenjojo to take on their roles and responsibilities as quality education is the only way to solve a mentally retarded society and the choice is ours as the poor the society becomes the more illiterate or semi-illiterate the citizen it produces. 

The elders were not amazed with the fact that Kyenjojo is rated one of the poorest districts in Uganda by National bureau of statistics yet they have able bodied men and women and asserted that without education we are slaves, as slaves we no rights therefore as citizens of Kyenjojo we must deliberate ourselves and we know that we can as education is the key pillar for developments. HON TOM Butime emphasized the education of kyenjojo will entirely depend on how stable our  homes are and there if the citizens do not have a core income generating activity at home then  they are  hanging and thus education may not be attained.  The former Member of Parliament was quick to give an example that when he visited Amanya Mushega and Jim Muhwezi’s home he did not see the citizens waiting for them while sleeping to ask for help for school fees as it is in Kyenjojo.

In the conference the leaders decried of the fact that Kahanda Primary school and Rubango primary schools which were traditional schools of Kyenjojo district were scraped off P.6 and P.7 as these schools instead of progressing they have gone two steps backwards. What will happen to the community shall achieve the millennium development goal  with such developments.

Key facts about Kyenjojo from DEO’s presentation

Kyenjojo district  has 200 pre-primary schools of which only 97 have licenses with about 5000 pupil,  The district has 128 government aided primary schools and 52 private primary schools with a total enrollment of 38534boys and 37717 girls .  The total number of teachers in the district is 1120 were on pay role of which 48 were in maternity or sick leave. 50 Class room have a roof with no blocks. By October 2013. Pupils of Iboroga and Butiti Boys are still studying under condemned buildings. In 2013, 12 pupils, 8 teachers and a district inspector of schools were lost.  In Nyabuharwa Primary 16 were defiled and made pregnant.

It was no surprise that the  participants  confirmed and by consensus agreed that the facts and information presented during the conference reflect the real status of education and household production and income thus the quality of education and poverty at household level are directly related and influence each another,  Therefore, appreciating the need to act to improve the quality of education, recognizing the potential and endowments that exist and can facilitate change. Key resolutions were; organizing subcounty conferences, education and fighting poverty becomes a priority for all stakeholders, All elected leaders take the political responsibility for the quality of education and production at household level since they were voted into office to ensure better service delivery as well as   leaders working together to ensure that each household has utilized land well, has sufficient food for home consumption and marketing for income generation.

The dialogue meeting in Kyenjojo attracted over 120 participants who included among others, RDC, CAO (represented), LC V (represented) DNC, SNCs, DEO, Inspector of schools, CDOs, LC III C/Ps, Opinion leaders, retired politicians like Conel Butime, head teachers, Civil society organizations like RIDE Africa, Caritus Fort Portal, KRC, Tooro Development Network among others..

 Policy Review by RWECO

The Education department takes the biggest percentage of the district budget for the years in review ( 2011/12-2013/14) but that does not result into quality education given the grades of pupils in Primary Leaving Examinations and performance of the teachers. The stakeholders questioned why spend colossal sums of money and yet  register poor performance, that was after the RWECO presented the implication of the budget to service delivery and the Kyenjojo district leadership was tasked to work with CSOs and other agencies to improve on the education standards

Compiled by RWECO Team

Erina Kahunde and Sheila K

WHO IS BENEFITING FROM NAADS?

KALI a member of RWECO held a dialogue meeting in Kasese to share monitoring findings from NAADS sector and come up with recommendation for by-law to hold beneficiaries & other stake holders accountable at district level. The joint monitoring exercise was carried out for 6 weeks  with the community monitors carried out a joint monitoring of the NAADs resources in 10 sub counties Kitholhu, Karambi, MLTC, Bwera, Munkunyu, Kyondo, Kyarumba, Lake Katwe,  Katwe Kabatoro t/c and Muhokya   and the tools that were used during the monitoring exercises included: the community score card, sub county/district budgets for 2013/14/ records with the Naads farmers and  interview guides.

Key findings on the naads programs were; currently, over 1200 farmers groups have been formed in 10 sub counties. The number is expected to increase in NAADs phase due to village level approach of the program. The NAADs program was reported as having contributed to increased production, food security, access to market and household income as before the introduction of the NAADs program, many households suffered from rampant food insecurity and thus high poverty levels.  The reports also showed that the animal population and food security items have generally increased due to the support given to NAADS beneficiaries. E.g. Bogoya, Cassava, goats, Cows, chicken, eggs; fish, access to these is easier than before NAADS programme. The findings further clarified that most farmers have now gone into extensive farming where they are producing at large scale and there is value addition. This was witnessed in Kithothu Sub County, Kyondo and Katwe Kabotooro Town Council.

However, it was reported that some beneficiaries have taken on enterprises which they cannot manage. For example most of those rearing animals had challenges of looking after them. Such challenges include; problem animals from the park, theft, diseases, feeds, drugs and recovery. In Karambi, Muhokya and Kyondo sub counties 25 Naads beneficiaries had sold off their input; it was revealed that farmers receive enterprises late as the planting season ends. This has forced farmers to change to other enterprises that are not of their choice; in long run this has affected the sense of ownership. For example in Muhokya and Lake Katwe S/Cs money for food security came late and farmers had to switch to other enterprises.  The findings also revealed that most of the agricultural inputs; planting materials are delivered late or at the end of the planting season. This has affected the performance of the given enterprise and also the beneficiaries to pay back since most in puts are given on a loan basis.

Despite the key  findings key question  still remain un answered  and  these included; ? Will the Ugx. 2.6bn make a change compared with the Ugx. 2bn of 2012/13? Why is Kasese district food insecure depending on food from other neighboring districts? What is wrong when we spend Ugx 2bn on Naads and yet we still import food from out?

KALI would suggested the following recommendations for the district   which include  establishment By-law  at subcounty level that would control the recovery process from  the first beneficiaries. Also  Food security becomes a top district priority .An ordinance on production-NAADS programme should be formulated to address the challenges associated with NAADS implementation. Fish farming in the sub counties such as Kyondo and the lake region should be supported fully and fish package be increased to realize their dream.  Irrigation in Muhokya needs to be given high attention in order to realize the NAADS programme. More so areas like Katholhu cotton belt farms Kinyamaseke and  Kiburara  fields should be supported by the district.

 Compiled by:

Sheila K

RWECO Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

RWENZORI ANTI- CORRUPTION COALITION @ 10YEARS

Thursday 28th November shall remain in the memories of the Anti-Corruption Activists in the Rwenzori Region as one of the lead organizations was jubilating after 10 years struggle in fighting corruption: RWENZORI ANTI-CORRUPTION COALITION WAS FOUNDED IN 2002 BY ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTIVISTS IN THE RWENZORI REGION.

PICTURE GALLERY OF THE EVENTS

Mr. Joseph Makumbi, Deputy Director Ethics Education, Directorate of Ethics and Integrity

The Chief Guest was the Minister of Ethics and Integrity who was represented by the Deputy Director Ethics Education

Hon. Alex Ruhunda decorating a monitor during the 10 years events at Boma Grounds Fort Portal Municipality

Ms. Cissy Kagaba, with mic, Executive Director Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, on her right is James Mwirima, chairperson RAC

Mr. Jimmy B. Odyek, Coordinator RWECO, holding plaque in honor of his anti-corruption work in the Rwenzori Region

Dr. Fabius Byaruhanga RAC Chief Advisor

RWECO shared her IEC materials during the events to mark 10 years of RAC- Above, the chief guest reading through the RWECO Annual report 2012, later he asked the details about RWECO.

Picture story by RWECO team:
Adrine Muhindo
Jimmy Odyek

personal experience with the use of trac fm software

I share with you my personal experience with the use of trac fm

What we wanted to find out:

 Parents’ willingness to contribute a fee towards provision of lunch for children at schools.

Background:
- A survey shows that many children are not getting lunch  at schools.(only 25% take packed lunch)
- Parents neglect their responsibility to give  their children packed lunch
- Children who do not take lunch cannot learn properly and this affect their performance.
- Suggested is to make parents pay a small fee of about 10.000 Ugx per child per term so that schools can provide lunch.
Question paused over Radio:

 Should schools charge parents a small fee to provide lunch for pupils?
Instruction to radio listeners: 

Go to messages on your phone, type LIFE, followed by either YES or NO and send this to 8585.  This service is free of charge!  Only your first vote will be added to the results.

THE RESULT OF THIS QUICK SURVEY

 726 people participated and 86% of the agreed with the suggestion.

Details are at:  http://www.tracfm.org/p/view/311

ACTION SO FAR TAKEN

With the above results, we engaged schools managements, parents and other CSO to start a campaign of parents supporting feeding pupils in schools. This campaign has been well received and so far 23 schools have taken it for candidate classes of p.6 to p.7.

Evidence of such campaign day is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2JI1nAriBw we are still building more partnership.

SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY TAKES ROOT IN GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES

Government spends Shs500m on eclipse

A woman sells special glasses to tourists in Nebbi District ahead of the viewing of the eclipse on Sunday. It has emerged that the Ministry of Tourism spent Shs510 million on the one-day event. Photo by Faiswal Kasirye. 

By Martin Ssebuyira
Posted  Wednesday, November 6  2013 at  00:00

 As the excitement over the hybrid solar eclipse wanes, it has emerged that the government spent Shs510 million to organise the eclipse viewing event at Owiny Primary School in Nebbi District.

According to the budget, the Ministry of Tourism spent Shs69 million on public awareness and publicity about the once in a life time event.

“We held a press conference at the Media Centre on October 18 to create awareness about the eclipse event at Shs2.3 million, launched a social media campaign targeting 1 million people on October 15 at Shs13.4 million, had Radio and Television Campaign from October 21 to November 2 at Shs21 million and International media familiarisation trip at Shs32 million,” the budget reads in part.

Journalists’ role
The Daily Monitor has learnt that state minister for Finance Fred Omach took five journalists from the New Vision, UBC television, NTV, WBS and an official from the Uganda Media Centre for a familiarisation trip ahead of the event but it is not clearly indicated whether he used his personal funds or money from the budget.

According to the budget, the ministry spent Shs1.5 million to invite national VIP guests, Shs4.4 million to hire tents, tables and chairs, Shs5 million for public address system and Shs1.5 million for event site decoration.

Other expenditures were on refreshments - at Shs4 million, mobile toilets at Shs4.9 million, venue branding that included banners and signage at Shs7 million and UV viewing films at Shs3 million.

The money also catered for constructing a borehole at Shs20 million, safety and security at Shs70 million, procuring a monument at Shs77 million, a mobile clinic at Shs10 million and repairing the road to the school at Shs80 million.

The ministry in the budget renovated four classrooms at Owiny Primary School at Shs52.7million, renovated toilets at Shs35 million, sensitised and mobilised Packwach community at Shs10 million.

They also improved sanitation in Packwach at Shs20 million, cleared bushes for viewing sites at Shs5 million, rehabilitated three boreholes at Shs20 million, had entertainment for Shs5 million, while Shs5 million went on coordination and mobilisation.

Ministry of Tourism spokesperson Vivian Lyazi said the money was worth the event and that it was spent as budgeted for.

“It was worth it although money reached late and some things were dropped but all the money has been properly accounted for,” he said.

Efforts to get a comment from Uganda Revenue Authority on whether government could have collected any funds during the event, were fruitless as Mr Hebert Ssempogo from the communications office requested for some time to ascertain but couldn’t answer his phones by press time.

Mr Paul Kyeyune, the URA spokesperson couldn’t answer his phone by press time.

Thousands of people on Sunday converged at Pakwach to watch the hybrid eclipse, one of the rarest types. The eclipse occurred at about 5:23pm when the moon shielded the sun and created a spectacular moment of darkness for several seconds.

mssebuyira@ug.nationmedia.com

Accessed on Wednesday 6th November, 2013 from:http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Government-spends-Shs500m-on-eclipse/-/688334/2062150/-/fq82ym/-/index.html 

 

WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFULL PUPILS

Following the art and painting competition that RIC-NET conducted in the region between May and August 2013, it was time to reward the participants with certificates of participation and simple gifts for the best participants; these included Mathematical sets, and Art and painting kits. Every participating school was also given copies of the education magazine showcasing in it work of the best participants in the region. In Kabarole district the RIC-NET Information Officer visited the five schools(Rwimi, Rubona, Kigarama, Kyebambe Model and Harugongo Primary schools) that participated in the competitions to deliver the results, certificates, magazines and gifts. Similar exercises have been conducted in the other districts of Kamwenge, Kyenjojo, Kasese, Ntoroko and Bundibugyo. Here below are photos from the visits to schools in Kabarole district.

Pupils at Harugongo PS together with their teacher pose for group photo.

The RIC-NET Information Officer hands over  a Certificate to a pupil at Harugongo PS

The Deputy Head Mistress Harugongo PS shows a Certificate to the assembly challenging them to be active in school programs.

A group photo of Art teachers and participants at Kyebambe Model PS

A teacher at Kyebambe Model giving out Certificates to the participants at the school.

 

A group photo of the participants together with the RIC-NET Information Officer, head teacher and the art teachers at the school

A pupil at Kigarama PS receives his certificate from the Head Mistress

A teacher at Rubona PS helping the pupils to flag their certificates

A pupil at Rwimi PS receiving her Certificate from the RIC-NET Information&Advocacy Officer.

RIC-NET Information Officer and an Art teacher at Rwimi PS pose for a photo with the participants at the school.