Completed also were 11 Training of Trainers workshops for 198 motivated CSO actors in each district where the project is being implemented. These particular workshops aimed at enhancing the capacity of CSOs to promote democratic governance and accountability at the local level, and to conduct grassroots civic education with the guidance of the civic education toolkit which was developed by ACFODE and KAS earlier in the project.
The task now falls to these newly trained actors to carryout grassroots civic education in selected sub counties in the districts where the project is being implemented. So far, the trained trainers in Masaka, Kiboga, Mbarara, Lira and Pader have made use of their acquired skills to carryout exceptional trainings within some of the sub counties in their districts. Because of their ability to relate the importance of promoting principles of good governance and accountability to development and eliminating poverty in these communities as well as Uganda, some trainers have also been able to confidently answer to questions raised by the community members on how promoting the principles of good governance and accountability can improve their livelihoods.
Towards the conclusion of these trainings, the adjustment in the way the community members discussed these concepts illustrated the fact that they now possessed an understanding of what good governance and accountability are, and how they can be applied to achieve true democracy in Uganda. This was evident in the way they strongly recommended that democracy can not only be exercised at the higher levels of government but that it also at the grassroots level through organizing for reelection of LC1 chairpersons who have held these positions for several years.
One of the most outstanding trainings was one that was carried out among the Batwa in Muka - a sub county located in Kabale district. The Batwa, a small community of pygmies living in a dense forest in Bwindi Impenetrable are one of the significantly marginalized groups in Uganda. With basic rights such as access to adequate health care, sanitation and food sorely lacking in the area, this community has for a long time felt neglected and abandoned by their leaders. “We never see or leaders and they have done nothing to help us. They only come when they want votes,” lamented one of the community members during the training. “However, with the knowledge and guidance we have acquired from this event, we are going to start holding them accountable basing on their promises, mandate and on our rights. If they fail to deliver, we shall not vote them again,’ he continued.
In this community, a dilapidated state of the 2 mud constructed structures serve as the only primary school in the area and the surrounding makeshift grass huts that serve as homes clearly show that this man’s words were potently true.
This community, like so many others in rural Uganda wrongly believe that the leaders they vote into power do not have an obligation to ensure that basic services are brought closer to the people and that they are uplifted from their state of abject poverty.
However these grassroots trainings have added some value to this effect since community members are now aware of the roles and responsibilities of their leaders, and of the fact that they as the electorate have the power to hold these leaders accountable should they fail to meet their obligations.
Compiled by: Sheila Kinaheirwe
Project Officer-ACFODE
EU Supported Project “Action for Strengthening Good Governance and Accountability in Uganda’’
Email: acfode.kinaheirwe@gmail.com
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