RWENLAP II was a DGF funded project that was implemented with the aim of  ‘strengthening community vigilance and strategic alliances with local authorities and anti-graft agencies in using evidence based reporting to cause action against corruption for improved service delivery in the Rwenzori region’

The project was initiated in March 2018 and concluded in Mach 2021 

Several achievements were implemented during the lifetime of the project. These included among others; 

• Increase in the number of cases reported to RAC from 662 in 2017 to 1,486 by March 2021. Through our interventions, we witnessed increased number of cases reported and responded to by leaders and other anti-graft agencies. Prior to project start in the year 2017, a total number of 662 issues related to corruption and service delivery gaps were registered at RAC out of which 273 were followed up to logical conclusion hence saving a total of 300,000,000 UGX. Since we started project implementation in 2018, there has been steady increment in the number of cases reported, responded to and acted upon by duty bearers and other state actors. As a result of our interventions, various actions have been undertaken by state actors; these include; causing correction of defects reported on government projects, arrest and detention of fraudulent civil servants refund, fines, arrest, detention, transfer and suspension of staff (found guilty of abuse of office) from public offices. As a result, a total of a total of 6,421,853,172/= has been saved/recovered, as detailed in the table below:           

In Ntoroko district for example, RAC engaged the IGG to cause compensation for the citizens of Ntoroko whose land had been taken by the Ministry of Water and Environment, where a total amount of 287,835,990/= was given to the victims of this land matter as compensation for the land lost.

Strengthened partnership and collaboration with state and non-state actors: We have witnessed increased participation by state and non-state actors in our activities like the District Integrity Promotion Forums conducted on a quarterly basis, social audits/joint monitoring, DPAC meetings and sub-county conferences among others. In addition, there is a strong collaboration and partnership between RAC and state agencies, which has expedited response to cases reported, effective resource utilization through joint monitoring of government programs and renewed trust, transparency and commitment between the two parties accelerated by information sharing. Over the past years of project implementation, RAC has interacted and strengthened formal and informal partnerships with the Inter-Agency Forum i.e. the Office of the Auditor Genera (OAG), Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU),  Directorate of Ethics and Integrity (DEI), Inspectorate of Government (IG) and Public Procurement and Disposal Authority (PPDA). Through these partnerships and collaboration, response and action upon cases reported to RAC has been expedited.

In addition to the IAF, strong partnerships have been built with state agencies at district, regional and national         level including police, judiciary, and BMAU among others. These partnerships have accelerated RAC’s access to information on government programs and other public documents. Documents obtained as a result of our partnership and collaboration with state agencies include; annual OAG reports for all the districts in the Rwenzori region, district internal audit reports, district and sub-county council minutes, procurement plans and monitoring reports among others. RAC has used the information obtained to monitor government programs and where applicable, the information has been simplified and disseminated to the community to monitor government programs and projects for effective service delivery.

Increased citizen participation in monitoring, planning and budgeting processes: through various RAC programs, the citizens have been empowered to monitor and participate in the planning and budgeting processes and as such, citizen-centered plans and budgets with community priorities have been developed. This has greatly contributed to better access to service delivery points like clean water, schools and health facilities. At project start, the Percentage of citizens who participated in planning and budgeting processes at sub-county and district level was reported at 62%; but, by December 2020, citizen participation in planning and budgeting stood at 84%, with a percentage of 71% of community priorities and considerations reflected in the budgets released.

Strengthened capacity for monitors in evidence-based monitoring and reporting: through RWENLAPII project, the capacity of 780 monitors and activists i.e. 328 women 452 men in evidenced based monitoring has been strengthened and as a result a total of 1,168 reports with a total of 1,126 corruption related issues were reported and followed up with the respective duty bearers for logical conclusion. Due to the evidence-based reports presented by RAC, she has not had any defamation case against her during the project implementation period.

PROJECT OUTCOMES

Outcome 1: Citizen engagement with duty bearers through formal and informal spaces on government accountability improved: A vulnerable populace that is less empowered to hold their leaders accountable on issues of service delivery and accountability is one of the challenges RAC set out to address through RWENLAPII Project. Throughout the various engagement platforms created by RAC during project implementation, the gap between the citizens and duty bearers has been bridged and the citizens are now confident and in position to hold their leaders accountable on service delivery issues and abuse of office. The increased number of citizen participation in the engagement meetings is as a result of leaders’ commitment, response and action taken upon the citizens’ issues of concern raised.

RAC’s collaboration and partnership with state agencies at national, regional district and sub-county level, as well as the continued engagement with the district leaders/duty bearers and production of evidence-based reports has earned her trust and commitment from the leadership. This is evidenced in the leaders’ participation in the various activities organized by RAC including the DIPF, DPAC and stakeholders’ meetings, social audits, joint monitoring and the commemoration of the Annual regional Anti-Corruption Week.

The continuous engagement of leaders by citizens has born various results including;

Recovery of 7,178,000/= (Seven million, one hundred seventy eight thousand shillings) that had been embezzled by the water officer Ntoroko. The said officer withdrew money from the district account to conduct monitoring of water projects, an activity which he did not do. During the RAC-district engagement with the duty bearers, it was realized that the water officer had not implemented the said activity. RAC therefore tasked the CAO to enforce the recovery of the funds in question. This was done; all the funds were fully recovered from the errant officer, with the last installment deposited on December 31, 2020.

In another case, Mupala Agency Limited was on October 21, 2019 contracted by Isango Sub-county to construct 6 boreholes in six selected parishes of Kasese at a cost of 67,800,000/= within a period of two months. However, during RAC’s stakeholder meeting with the Kasese duty bearers, it was reported that the Sub-county Chief of Isango had flouted the procurement process and as a result, the said boreholes were never constructed. A case file number SD Ref 08/20/10/2020 was thus opened up against the Sub-County Chief. One year down the road, the boreholes had not been constructed; RAC during a joint monitoring visit to the site where  the boreholes were meant to be installed, upon discovery that the project had stalled for one year recommended that the contractor be brought to book. The duty bearers thus tasked the contractor to fulfil his contractual obligations short of which he would face the tough arm of the law: The contractor complied; during the last RAC visit to the project in the month of December 2020, it was observed that works had resumed. Though not complete, the people of Isango are hopeful that construction of the boreholes in question will soon be complete, much to the benefit of the citizens, especially mothers who have to trek long distances in search for water.

In Rwangara HCIII – Rwangara sub-county – Ntoroko district, the CAO upon receiving several complaints from the community during the RAC round-table meetings and community feedback meetings decided to write warning letters to all staff of this facility over gross absenteeism and late coming. The health-incharge of the same facility was arrested for abuse of office but later released on police bond. Because of the CAO’s intervention, sanity has since returned to this facility with better services to the community. 

Still in Ntoroko district during a joint-monitoring visit to Nyabibya Women’s group in Nombe sub-county, it was revealed that the group had received UWEP funds worth 9,236,000 to start up a piggery project; however, money was diverted (shared amongst themselves). Upon this revelation, the monitoring team recommended that the diverted monies be refunded. In a follow up joint monitoring visit, it was revealed that up to 6,360,000/= had been refunded as of June 30 2020, saying that if it weren’t for COVID, all the money could have been recovered by the end of June 2020.

The continuous engagement between leaders and communities on issues of service delivery resulted into reduced late coming and absenteeism at Kasenda HCIII in Kasenda sub-county, Kabarole district. In addition, the loud outcry of the community over teachers who used to drink during working hours was stopped when the community reported this vice to the leaders of Kasenda.

Our continued lobbying and engagement of Kabarole district and sub-county leadership facilitated the recruitment of a secretary and Askari at Kasenda sub-county, hence contributing to improved service delivery in Kasenda.

In Kasenda sub-county still, a total of nine roads that were previously impassable were worked on with culverts installed, thereby improving transportation of goods and services in this sub-county. This has as a result improved people’s income and livelihoods as the citizens’ agricultural produce can easily be transported to the market at fair prices. 

Further still, Nyabweya Primary school in Kasenda used to have four teachers but through our continuous engagement with the district leadership and other stakeholders at national level, the school has now got 9 teachers hence better quality education for the pupils of this school and the region at large.

Outcome 2. Cases reported to RAC by citizens responded to and acted upon by duty bearers: During the 3-year project implementation, various platforms were set up for citizens to report cases for action by duty bearers and leaders. These include among others community feedback meetings, round table meetings, DIPF, Whatsapp groups, toll free line and the anti-corruption desk. All the cases reported through these forums were presented to the respective duty bearers for response and action. In general terms, there has been an increase in the response rate and action taken by leaders and duty bearers compared to the period before 2018. RAC’s continued follow up and vigilance in demanding for action and response to cases reported has greatly contributed to improved service delivery with reduced cases of bribery, absenteeism and late reporting for duty as testified by the citizens during the community feedback and round table meetings at various service delivery points like Kyegegwa Health Center IV, Kyenjojo hospital and Rukunyu Health Center among others. A number of roads have also been worked on after several complaints raised by the community during our radio talk-shows and community meetings. These include among others; Kibogo road in Fort Portal Municipality, a total of 9 roads in Kasenda – Kabarole district and Muramya-Kalekera road in Katanga cell in Bundibugyo Town Council.

Other examples of cases acted upon during the three years of project implementation include;

Case examples followed up to conclusion include among others;

1. Redo of shoddy works – the case of Kicucu Primary school in Kyenjojo district where defects observed in the construction of a classroom block were fixed by the contractor as a result of the pressure mounted by RAC, hence not only saving the district funds that would otherwise have been lost but also providing the pupils of this school a conducive and friendly learning environment.

2. Repayment of embezzled funds – the case of the Bundibugyo District Inspector of Schools who failed to remit funds obtained from PLE private candidates in government schools (Simbya, Hakitara and Bitoogo primary school) as UNEB registration fees, causing the pupils to miss their final Primary Leaving Exams. Although the pupils were advised to register in other schools, the fraudulent inspector was interdicted and caused to return the embezzled funds. In a similar way, the Ntoroko District Inspector of Schools was tasked to refund monies accrued through abuse of office/connivance to fraudulently appoint the Kasungu Primary School head-teacher – Ntoroko district. Although the IGG, after investigations recommended that the trio involved in the act of abuse of office refund the money amounting to 10,205,711/=, one – Rev. Kibonwa David – the Ntoroko District Inspector of schools had failed to comply. However, when RAC presented this case to the IAF during their monitoring visit to the region, Rev. Kibonwa was tasked to pay the money, and this time round, he complied and paid a fee amounting to 3,401,903/= to the IG assets recovery account in the bank.

3. Arrest and detention of civil servants suspected of abuse of office: during the IAF monitoring visit in December 2019, over 5 civil servants were arrested and detained on allegations of abuse of office – hence causing financial loss for government. These include among others; the Bundibugyo District Production Officer and Procurement officer, and the Ntoroko district water engineer. Case files were opened up against the suspects and later released. The arrest and detention of these public servants did not only act as eye opener for those involved in similar acts to desist from them but also increased the trust in RAC as an institution aimed at fighting against graft in the region. This is evidenced in the number of referrals and cases reported by citizens and other state anti-graft agencies like the State House Anti-Corruption Unit that have since referred various cases to RAC for follow since the IAF visit to the region

 RAC’s commitment to have all cases reported to her office followed up to logical conclusion has earned her a house-hold name as the best Non-state Institution in the fight against corruption not only in the Rwenzori sub-region but the country at large. This has been attested to by various testimonies made by several state and non-state actors as well as the wider community during various fora organized by RAC. A case in point is  the former Hon. Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity – Hon. Fr. Simon Lokodo who confessed in his remarks, during the commemoration of the regional commemoration of the 2019 Anti-Corruption Week that he has visited various non-state agencies contributing to the fight against corruption but none of them measures up to RAC’s standards.

Outcome 3: Increased citizens’ participation in planning and budgeting processes at sub county and district level: During project implementation, RAC through her community meetings sensitized the citizens about the importance of participating in planning and budgeting meetings. During the budget planning meetings, RAC mobilized citizens to participate in these planning meetings right from village to district level to ensure that their priorities are taken on. By participating in the planning and budgeting processes, the citizens were able to lobby for inclusion of their priorities into the district plans and budgets.

The citizens’ participation in the planning process further instilled in them a sense of ownership and the community is therefore in position to take charge of their development by closely monitoring government plans and projects – to check if implementation is according to plan.

In addition, RAC, with support from district planners simplified and disseminated all the 63 sub-county and 9 district plans and budgets to the monitors and activists to enable them track and monitor government programs and projects as stipulated in the sub-county and district approved plans and budgets. This has greatly contributed to production of evidence-based reports and monitoring right from project start to the end, in order to avoid post mortem reporting, and where necessary demand for accountability for the project funds released.

As a result of citizens’ participation in the planning and budget processes, community-cantered plans and budgets were developed. This is evidenced in the number of community priorities adopted for consideration in the 2020/21 district budgets where a total of 73 community priorities raised during the RAC-supported budget consultative meetings were taken up for consideration out of the total 155 priorities raised.

Examples of priorities adopted include among others; Murraming Bulyanyenje road, Kyamukerege road, Construction of a bridge connecting Bulyanjyenje  and Kamengo villges, Steet lightning in Nyabukara Trading center, Construction of a bridge connecting Rukongora to Kahungabunyonyi in the new Fort Portal City, construction of Culverts at Mpanga III swamp and Construction of Kyabandara Health Unit in Kamwenge sub-county – Kamwenge district; Construction of water springs at Bikunya, Rwapempe, Kyamuhamira, Barnabas-Kisolholho in Karambi sub-county – Kasese district, Construction of Bumate SDA primary school in Bumate Central, Construction of A health centre in Mabele Sub-county and Construction of an Immunization centre in Mabele parish, Mabele sub-county in in Bundibugyo district.

By participating in the planning and budgeting processes at district and sub-county level, the community was able to influence the priorities adopted in the approved plans and budgets for the FY 2020/21, thereby leading to the approval of district plans and budgets that meet the concerns of the people i.e. citizen-centered budgets

Outcome 4: Active citizenry able to hold their leaders accountable: RAC during project implementation created various platforms for citizens’ knowledge building and information sharing as a way of creating an empowered society able to hold their leaders accountable. These platforms included among others; feedback mechanisms such as feedback meetings and the TRACK Newsletters, through which the community was given updates and the status of the cases reported to RAC.  This was done to enable the community to verify, track and follow up commitments made by the duty bearers to ensure logical conclusion of all the cases reported. The back and forth information sharing and dissemination further contributed to improved transparency and accountability by the duty bearers as the citizenry continuously demanded for updates, response and fulfilment of commitments drawn by the leaders. By empowering the citizens with information, they were in better positions to hold their leaders accountable from an empowered background. Cases where citizens engaged duty bearers for accountability include;

Demand for COVID 19 Budgets and accountabilities from the District Task forces of the eight districts where we operate. RAC was able to obtain these budgets and accountabilities for districts like Kabarole which were then disseminated to the community through radio talk shows, community feedback meetings and the TRACK Newsletter. This was intended to clear the various community allegations over misappropriation of COVID funds, as well as promote transparency in the utilization of the COVID19 grants, to ensure that they achieve the intended purpose. 

Other case examples include; Stalled and shoddy works in the construction of administration block at Bupomboli HCII and Theft of drugs at Bukangama HCIII in Bundibugyo district, Ring fencing of business and flouting the procurement process during the installation of bore-holes in Ntoroko district and Illegal commercial sand mining at Karugutu Sub-County by Abas Balinda Sand Mining Company without authorization from the relevant authorities in Ntoroko district.

By the close of the project (March 2021), there was a notable change/ increase in the response rate and action taken by leaders on cases reported compared to the years before project implementation (2017.) The response rate to cases reported by RAC in 2017 was …  while in March 2021, the response rate stood at … showing a … percent increment.

The citizens’ continued follow up and vigilance in demanding for action and response to cases reported has greatly contributed to improved service delivery with reduced cases of bribery, drug theft from health facilities, shoddy works, absenteeism and late reporting for duty as testified by the citizens during the quarterly reflection meetings, community feedback and round table meetings.

In Harugale sub-county – Bundibugyo district for example, theft of drugs was very rampant at Bupomboli HCIII but through RAC’s routine monitoring and follow up, it was established that the stores’ keeper was behind these thefts. Through our engagement with the district and sub-county leadership, the stores’ keeper was transferred and sanity returned at the health facility. Since then, drug theft at this facility has not been heard of.  

In Kanara Sub-county – Ntoroko district, 3 teachers at Kanara Primary school were reportedly transferred but were still on the school pay roll yet the school was faced with the challenge of inadequate staffing. Through RAC’s monitoring and reporting, the teachers in question were deleted from the pay roll and others were recruited; as a result, the pupils of this school and Ntoroko district at large are able to access better quality education because the teachers are now available.

In Kanara sub-county still, there was a midwife who was allegedly fond of supporting girls and women to abort. In one scenario, a baby’s mite from one of the abortion cases was found in a garbage pit at the facility, something that did not go well with the community. The community raised their concerns to RAC, who then engaged the health facility management and the district leadership, causing the dismissal of the midwife in question.

While implementing projects, sometimes the interventions lead to un-intended outcomes (not planned at project design) Please describe any of such results realised by your project.

Creation of new Administrative Units: Elevating Fort Portal municipality to a city status has promoted improved road network within the city, as most of the roads in the city are being tarmacked.  The city status has further created positions for more leaders i.e. Resident City Commissioner and City Director among others; this has widened our space to obtain response and action upon cases reported to RAC.

Increase in local government funding for the health sector due to the COVID 19 outbreak; at Buhinga regional referral hospital for example, a total of 10 doctors were posted there plus a new ultra sound machine and mattresses during the first wave of the COVID19 outbreak in 2020. In addition, more vehicles were sent to the district to support the health sector. This has in a way contributed to better access to health services in the region.

Due to the lockdown, a number of meetings were conducted using online platforms like Zoom which are more cost-effective yet they bring on board various stakeholders right from district, regional, national and international level hence allowing a wide range of ideas, discussion and fruitful deliberations.

Further still, the RAC monitors during the lockdown monitored in small groups and were thus able to monitor more projects and thus produced more monitoring reports at a lower cost

Learning and iteration

Signing of Memorandums of Understanding with the district local governments; This was at the beginning of project implementation and midway implementation due to the creation of new administrative units. Signing of MoUs has smoothened our working relationship with the district local governments and enhanced access to information. With the creation of new administrative units in particular Fort Portal City, Kitagwendwa and other sub counties which were formerly part of the original coverage, new leaders have come on board to manage these units. These come in with different working mechanisms which would require us to have a formal engagement with them. Thus, signing Memorandums of Understandings with these new administrative units has created a strong working relationship between RAC and the new administrative units and smoothen RAC’s operations.

Thematic meetings; During the thematic meetings held, a number of eye-catching issues were raised by the different stakeholders. It was realised that if not attended to, these can in one way or another   compromise service delivery. It was thus imperative to continue engaging with different stakeholders through thematic meetings especially in the education, health and works sectors to iron out these bottlenecks which may hinder service delivery.

Human rights and gender-based analysis; Throughout the course of project implementation, monitors and activists were monitoring and reporting on a quarterly basis. After a thorough review of their reports, it was realised that human rights and gender-based analysis was not incorporated within the reports. It was therefore important to put more emphasis on incorporation of human rights and gender-based analysis into the quarterly reports even in the upcoming project.

Inclusion of private sector; The private Sector was not exclusively engaged in the previous project as they were only invited to attend and participate in the District Integrity Promotion Forum meetings. With their limited engagement, they were able to raise critical issues which may need to be carried on. This has therefore prompted us to fully engage the private sector in the upcoming project to better understand their operations, challenges and how they can contribute to service delivery improvement within the region.

Continuation of Voter Education; Towards the 2021 general elections, RAC was able to conduct Voter Education within the region to sensitize the public about the then upcoming elections. This yielded some positive results as no violence was registered prior, during and after the elections; yet people turned up in big numbers to vote for their preferred candidates. It should however be noted that these results were attained on a short notice given that the project implementation period was limited. To build on the success attained during the elections, it is important to have voter education continuously carried out in preparation of the upcoming general elections in 2026.

Small-group monitoring; With the restricted movements and other regulations that were instituted by Ministry of Health and security organs during the COVID-19 lockdown to counteract the spread of COVID-19, RAC adopted the mechanism of monitors monitoring in small groups to comply with the set guidelines. This resulted into more projects being monitored and a high number of monitoring reports was registered. This mechanism proved effective and more productive and therefore, it would great to uphold it in the upcoming project.

Road Drives; During the implementation of the Civic Education Project, road drives were conducted in the 63 sub counties within the region. It was observed that the intended messages about the elections were effectively delivered to the intended beneficiaries and absorbed quickly, something that contributed to the peaceful and violent-free 2021 general elections within the region. Thus, Road drives were noted to be effective and should therefore be upheld to easily convey information directly to the communities/project beneficiaries.

Sustainability

 This project was fully community based whereby RAC utilised the original structure of 780 grassroot monitors to monitor and report quarterly. Also, the project has provided a platform to the community members through the roundtable and community feedback meetings to raise their concerns and get feedback on their issues. Our engagement with the community members through these platforms has created a sense of ownership among them, something that is key to the sustainability of the project.

In addition, the strong partnerships and collaborations created with the leadership of all the local governments of the Rwenzori Region will greatly uphold and sustain the results of the project long after project completion. The leadership now knows the importance of information sharing and addressing community concerns raised to them. We strongly believe that this will be maintained even after the project ends.

The project Strengthening Youth involvement in Local Accountability sought to engage1,016 youth and 657 RAC monitors in monitoring government programs, evidence-based reporting and involvement in decision making processes. The project further sought to train, mentor and support1876 youth to demand for accountability and improved service delivery from the duty bearers. It further aimed at enhancing a link between watchdog institutions like Inspectorate of Government, Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Office of Auditor General and the local citizens so as to expedite action on corruption cases reported by youth or unearthed by other agencies such as District Public Accounts Committee (DPACs), Local government Internal Audit, Office of the Auditor General (OAG) and whistle blowers. The project also intended to use the existing structures of integrity clubs of institutions of higher learning and the youth councils at district and sub-county level, youth councillors and selected female youth from each of the 66 sub-counties of project implementation. 

The Project sought to contribute to The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office Areas of Intervention i.e. 1. Strengthening Youth engagement for government accountability, 2. Improved access to information and civic education 3. Improving youth participation in decision-making.

In summary, the following achievements were realized:

• Out of the target 1,016 youth to be engaged in the entire project, a total of 1,922 youth were engaged hence a surplus of 906 youth. The more numbers realized were as a result of various factors including; follow up and action upon cases reported by the youth:.after the inception and the training of the youth in school and out of school, they (the youth) mobilized others to engage in the accountability and anti-corruption activities organized by RAC because they realized that through RAC support, action upon cases reported was expedited. A case in point was the issue of late reporting by the staff of Kakabara HCIII that was reported to RAC by a member of the youth council of Kakabara; RAC followed up this issue with the DHO - Kyegegwa and the in-charge of the health facility in question. The culprits were summoned and warned. This stopped the vice of late reporting at this facility. During the subsequent monitoring of this facility, the monitors were glad to report that service delivery at this unit had greatly improved, with no absenteeism. All the staff had reported in time for duty.

• A total of 1922 youth were able to engage with their leaders on the different accountability platforms and their issues responded to and acted upon by various leaders – A case in point is a male youth from Bundibugyo who wrote and tasked the CAO to respond and act upon the corruption allegations reported; the CAO in response to the youth’s concern wrote back with clarification and commitment to address the issues raised

• Out of the target 25 reporting mechanisms, a total of 127 mechanisms were put in place for youth to engage their leaders i.e. 10 district Whatsapp youth groups  - one per district, one RAC  debate youth group, one for youth in schools, I toll free line, I reporting  desk at office, 24 Suggestion boxes and 3 integrity meetings, 66 sub county conferences, 10 District integrity forum meetings and 9 radio programmes. These reporting mechanisms enabled the youth and community at large to report service delivery gaps and corruption allegations for response and action by the respective duty bearers. In Kyenjojo district, Kyakatwire sub-county, the citizens were concerned about the continued absenteeism by the Town Clerk and CDO and as such, the youth were finding it hard to access information on the available youth programs. This concern was brought to the attention of CAO during the Kyenjojo District Integrity promotion forum; the CAO, District Chairperson and RDC pledged to deal with the two staff in question to ensure that they perform their duties

• Out of the target 192 evidence based monitoring reports we received 258. These were received through  monitoring reports, suggestion boxes, day to day cases, Whatsapp groups  and toll free  There were more reports received than those targeted because some youth monitoring groups reported more than twice. Among others, the reports highlighted some of the YLP projects that were so poor at recovery and as such, the project beneficiaries were concerned since the funds were meant to be evolved. When this concern was brought to the attention of the District CDOs, they pledged to intensify the recovery processes, including involvement of police to ensure that defaulting beneficiaries pay up so as others too can benefit
• Out of the 36 target cases to be reported and concluded, a total of 99 cases were concluded. This was due to the established cooperation between RAC and leaders coupled with the evidence based reports; leaders were as such compelled to respond and action upon all the cases reported. Cases reported and concluded include; Alleged lack of adequate equipment at Karugutu HCIV and failure to provide adequate screening and diagnostic services to patients at the facility, this concern was presented to the DHO – Ntoroko and together with the key stakeholders, it was addressed. Currently, the health center has all the required basic equipment including BP machine and scan.
• RAC targeted to recover a monetary value of 55 m; however 465,090,000/= were recovered due to the follow up made on the bigger projects that were reported with shoddy works. Monetary value was realized from the projects monitored and followed up to conclusion including the DRDIP project of installation of water taps in Kyegegwa district budgeted at 771,971,813/= Before RAC intervention, only 10 taps had been installed in two villages of Kibira and Ngata but after RAC’s follow up, a total of 40 taps were installed, hence bringing water closer to the people of Kyegegwa.

Achievements in detail:

A significant number of activities were undertaken by RAC during project implementation; yielding the following achievements: 

Youth training and mentorship:

RAC has successfully mobilized, trained and mentored 1876 youth to advocate for anti-corruption reforms to achieve demonstrable results as testified by some of the youth who participated in the trainings “Working with RAC has increased my confidence in reporting… I used to think that people who come up to report cannot be helped but RAC changed this mindset when I reported a case and they followed it up…” Kasoro Patrick Natasha

The training offered to the youth increased their confidence to engage duty bearers to demand for accountability. A case in point is where the youth of Karambi – in Central Division Fort Portal city where some of the youth upon their monitoring of roads in Fort Portal realized that Binta road, despite the budget allocation of over 15,000,000/ had not been worked on. The youthful whistle-blower reported this case to RAC who then brought it to the attention of the division clerk – Northern division. The Town clerk explained that only 5 million had been released, with the remaining 10 million still on the account. A special  Audit was commissioned by the City clerk and directed the Division clerk to handle the issues raised .Several follow ups were made and as a result, proper accountability for the funds in question provided to RAC and the whistle blower. Due to the pressure mounted to the leadership of North division, works on the road in question resumed and are now near completion.

Compilation of the councilors’ data base: as the primary target for the project, a data base for all the district youth chairpersons, members of the youth councils as well as the male and female youth representatives in the 66 sub-counties of project implementation was developed for ease of communication and implementation of the project.  We now have a one stop center with all the data for the youth council members of the 66 sub-counties of project implementation. With the data base in place, communication with the key youth as the target project beneficiaries and mobilization for participation in activities and follow up was eased. The youth are easily mobilized and are flexible in that they are called upon when need arises to follow up cases .The availability of the data base has also increased consistence in participation of our activities by the target group and as such strengthened channels for information flow. Also, our geographical coverage has been increased as we were able to bring on board 3 new sub-counties in Kasese district. Although RAC has no monitors in these new sub-counties, a team of 33 youth were brought on board and are in position to monitor government programs and report service delivery gaps to RAC and other duty bearers for response and action.  The solidarity exhibited by the youth has fostered the monitoring and reporting of corruption cases.

1. Suggestion Boxes: a total of 24 suggestion boxes were produced with Messages of key reporting lines for RAC and Youth mobilized to use them for reporting after their installation in the selected 24 sub-counties in Fort Portal city, Kabarole and Kasese district . A total of 24 reports were were submitted to the secretariat for follow up and action on.  . The reports included allegations of corruption cases and service delivery gaps. A case in point is the high staff absenteeism and late reporting amidst  High volume turn up of clients at  Kitswamba HC III .This issue was presented to the In charge and DHO who promised to intervene and ensure staff report early and are consistently available for the patient’s needs. There was another issue of payment of monies meant for Karambi Health Centre IIIin Kasese district, but were instead erroneously paid paid to Karambi Health Centre III in Kabarole for two years . RAC upon receipt of this anomaly advised the in-charge to write formerly to the permanent secretary and copy in various stake holders which he did and as such, the funds were channelled to the right  health centre. Efforts to recover the funds paid to the health center Kabarole health centre  are ongoing. Also, there were some complaints about cases reported to police not followed up; this concern was shared with the Regional Police Commander, and the Regional CID and the District Police Commander – Kabarole. All these pledged to follow up to ensure that the pending cases are acted upon. Another concern was raised about  corruption among the parents of defilement victims and the accused who usually come together to negotiate for payment hence promoting defilement in the area. RAC working together with the office of the Community Development Officers have as such embarked on sensitising the masses on the effects of defilement on the victims and how the negotiations deny victims justice.

• Other Service delivery issues raised include; Delayed works on the construction/ upgrading Nyakimasa HC II and Kyempara HC II to Health centre IIIs.
• Lack of bridges connecting Bunyiswa and Nyamambuka wards that has caused children absentiseem during rainy periods.
• Inadequate Health services in Bwera SC. The catchment area of the sub county is very big being served by only one Health Centre which is even located at the extreme end of the sub county.
• Lack of safe water in the sub county particularly in Bunyiswa Parish Bwera Subcounty

1. Bwera Sub County has only one secondary school which is even located in the mountains making it difficult for the population in lower lands of the sub county to access secondary school studies. Or even walk very long distances.

Maintain Whatsapp Groups: using the data base, the data compiled was used to create whatsapp groups for all the monitors and youth with smart phones. Duty bearers i.e. CAOs, RDCs, and District chairpersons of the respective districts were added on the respective whatsapp groups to create linkage between the leaders and the monitors/youth. A total of 11 whatsapp platforms were created (one per district/city and another group created for youth in higher learning institutions i.e RAC debate forum ). The whatsapp groups have provided a platform for linkages between youth, monitors and leaders to report issues of service delivery. An example is after the training in Fort Portal city, the youth were added on a Whatsapp group created by RAC to engage their leaders and demand for accountability on one hand and on the other, enable the leaders to account and respond to the concerns raised by the youth. Some of the youth expressed their dissatisfaction with the state of Binta road that had been discovered during their monitoring i.e.  the works were abandoned and there was no value for money; it was alleged that funds meant to work on this road had been misappropriated and as such, required a detailed explanation for the funds in question.

One trained youth raised  the issue  on the Whatsapp group; In response to this concern raised through the Whatsapp group, RAC engaged the division clerk for response on the above allegations to which he responded with clarifications. That Binta road is funded by Uganda Road Fund, and work executed under force on account. It was budgeted for 14,000,000/= to do gravelling. The division clerk further stated that the road was partially worked on due to the heavy rains. He further added that the road equipment from the district was received towards the rain season and could therefore not favor completion of the road works. There were other allegations that the engineer – James Bulorero did not effectively execute the works as was expected i.e. proper accountability was not done, and the allowances for the workers were not paid. The Engineer alleged that as the project manager, he never made a requisition for funds yet funds were withdrawn from the account. He stated that he was given 1m shillings which was handed to him in a hotel parking lot by the treasurer. He stated that he accounted for the million he had received, but the other monies in question should be accounted for by the division Clerk and Treasurer.

As a result of the above gaps, works on Binta road were stalled and abandoned. The City clerk ordered for an audit and audit findings revealed some monies were not accounted for .The city clerk has ordered the division clerk to complete the works and properly account for the monies received. Works on the road have now been completed.

Below is a sample of the Whatsapp messages sent in regard to the above Binta Road

Also, the whatsapp platforms have played a very significant role in enhancing information sharing on key government programs amongst the youth/monitors, activity updates and best practices, experience sharing during activity implementation, instigated discussion on various trending issues on accountability, advice/opinion sharing on accountability and service delivery. As a result, the youth and monitors on these whatsapp groups have gained confidence to share their opinion, engage leaders on accountability and service delivery gaps, knowledge building and awareness creation on global, national, regional and local issues of accountability. The Whatsapp platforms have further increased the network of anti-corruption activists and coordination with leaders

The whatsapp platforms have also contributed to expedited response and action to some of the service delivery concerns raised; this is because duty bearers/leaders are members of these groups and can therefore offer immediate response to some of the concerns raised, hence saving time and money that would otherwise be spent in following up of some of the cases reported. Aan

An example was the issue of resettlement of the people in Ntoroko district that were affected by floods in Kanara sub county that were demanding  part of the game park land for resettlement .The LCV clarified that the Office of the Prime minister and UWA were willing to buy land and resettle the people from the floating islands to other areas other than the game park.

Commemoration of the Anti-Corruption Week 2021: in commemoration of the anti-corruption week 2021, two stakeholder engagement meetings were conducted. The first meeting was conducted in Kitagwenda with district councilors, heads of department, the CAO, RDC, RAC staff, media, regional IG, members of the wider community. The meeting in Kitagwenda was presided over by the Deputy IG – Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria on behalf of the Inspector of Government – Ms. Betty Kamya who failed to make it due to other state obligations. Kitagwenda district was selected due to the various corruption-related cases/fund misappropriation by some district officials. These include among others;

• Alleged misappropriation of funds worth 356,000,000/= meant for development projects for health, Education, water and Roads, hence halting the intended projects including Kanara water project, Kikazi-Ntara road among others, thereby denying the people of these areas access to clean water and quality service delivery.
• Alleged misappropriation/diversion of funds worth 50 million and unaccounted for funds (266,285,000/=) by some staff of Kitagwenda District Local Government, hence causing financial loss to the district.
• It was further alleged that a total of UGX 15,000,000 was budgeted under staff recruitment services in the statutory bodies vote code 138203, but, UGX 53,372,000 was advanced to Mr. Ssozi Chris the PHRO to conduct recruitment exercise. However, the excess of UGX 38, 372,000 was not budgeted for. Similarly, staff training under capacity building for Higher Local Government was budgeted for UGX 4,877,000 but UGX 15,390,000 was paid for training of head teachers in signing performance contracts at 10,820,000 and UGX 4,570,000 for training of rewards and sanction committee.

The meeting provided a platform for the IG to understand these cases deeper so as to expedite their action and conclusion. Dr. Patricia in response pledged to follow up these cases to ensure that they are concluded and; appropriate action taken. The Regional IGG office has completed the file and are awaiting for the final decision to be taken on the culprits on the misappropriation of funds in Kitagwenda district.

In addition, the Auditor General after the convention made a statutory audit, and the recommendations drawn will be used to inform the steps for the next action.

In Fort Portal, the regional convention of the Anti-Corruption Week was commemorated at Kalya Courts, bringing together regional and district leaders including RDCs, District Chairpersons, CAOs, chairpersons of the sub-county youth councils and the female youth counselors from the 66 sub-counties in all the 10 districts where RAC operates, members of the IAF, the media, selected RAC monitors, RAC district Focal persons, Board and staff among others.

Like Kitagwenda, various pending cases that had stalled for a long time were presented to the duty bearers for response and action. These include;

1. Alleged acts of managerial corruption done by the former City clerk of Fort portal City Mr. Ahimbisibwe Innocent.
2. Alleged illegal construction of petrol stations in and around the region but most commonly in Fort portal city.
3. Alleged illegal (mechanized) Pozollano mining in Kabarole District
4. Continued corruption allegations within the Uganda Police Force

The Convention provided a platform for the duty bearers to respond to the above cases, with commitment to expedite their investigations and logical conclusion. All the above cases have been acted upon and others are still pending in court .  The issue of the Former town clerk engaging Trino consulting company Ltd that was contracted by Fort Portal City  to construct Ruhandika street and Kaboyo road but the Company gave  fake payment guarantee from Equity Bank  is in court at hearing stage while  the issue of the illegal petrol station in Fort Portal; the National physical planning authority intervened and halted construction of all petrol, stations until it gives new guidelines  for their construction. The RDC has intervened in the issue of illegal mining of pozolana, bringing the culprits to book..Through the convention, regional issues were linked to national issues and as such, quick response and action to the cases reported.

Further still, reawakening messages on the evils of corruption were resounded through drama and presentations by different actors, imploring the participants to desist from corruption tendencies.

The convention also provided a platform for the youth to engage with their leaders on service delivery gaps that affect them such as the high unemployment rates, unfavorable terms and conditions for government programs, among other concerns. The youth were in return encouraged to approach their leaders for all the support required. The leaders pledged to continue supporting the youth whenever approached for assistance.

Youth-led debate: As part of the commemoration of the Anti-Corruption week, one students’ debate was conducted with the integrity club of Mountains of the Moon University. The Debate was conducted under the theme Promoting Active Citizen Participation in Social Accountability, under the topic – ‘Youth have a bigger role to play in social accountability than the state anti-graft agencies’. As a result of the debate, the youth were able to gain confidence to articulate accountability issues. Also the debate enabled the youth to understand the underlying causes of corruption and what needs to be done to address them. Also, the youth were inspired through the debate and gained more confidence to participate in public speech

Conduct training and mentoring sessions of youth in evidence-based reporting  using the PPDA  new contracting tool  practical experience in monitoring and key anti-corruption policies: In the month of December, RAC conducted a round of 66 trainings across the 66 sub-counties of the Rwenzori region. The participants included the RAC monitors, RAC focal person, board members, the Town Council/Sub-county CDOs, the Executive Committees of the Youth Council in the selected 66 sub-counties, the male and female youth councilors, as well as RAC staff.

Through the training, the youth were equipped with skills in evidence based monitoring and reporting, as well as engagement of duty bearers on service delivery concerns.

The youth and monitors were further trained on the key government programs like the new Parish Development Model, and how they can participate and benefit from such programs. During the question and answer session, the Community Development Officers as the co-trainers explained in detail the available government programs that the youth can tap in so as to benefit. Inspirational messages to the youth for mind-set change were emphasized during the training, imploring the youth to get out of their comfort zone to become better leaders and change agents.

At the end of the training, the participants (youth and monitors) testified that they felt more confident to engage their leaders for response on service delivery concerns and accountability. They further testified that they were in a better position to report cases of corruption since they understood better the true meaning of corruption and its negative effects.

‘’Asigya Janet states that she was happy that RAC had trained her… previously she feared to ask and follow up cases of corruption from leaders but after the training she has gained confidence and guts to demand for accountability. She proudly said she was part of the team who followed up the theft and recovery of the concrete machine and maxpans in the Municipal Council.

Also, the practical skills offered to the new monitors (the youth) by the old monitors increased their ability and confidence to monitor government programs like Uganda Women Empowerment Program (UWEP), ,infrastructure development like construction of classroom blocks, health centers and roads, Emyooga , Youth Livelihood Project (YLP) ,UWA revenue sharing fund ,health and education services among others through asking for the right information, the stakeholders to engage when monitoring, and the particular services offered at a given service delivery point (such as the different levels of health facilities). After the practical mentoring on monitoring, each of the 66 sub-counties trained was able to produce evidence-based monitoring report, highlighting the service delivery gaps observed during the monitoring, and recommendations for better service delivery.

The training further increased the youth and monitors’ knowledge on anti-corruption policies and laws. The knowledge obtained has enhanced their ability to hold their leaders accountable, and at the same time, they know where to report cases of corruption. 

The training offered to the youth and monitors has increased the number of evidence-based reports brought to the secretariat from 124 in the quarter of January  to October 2021 to 221 from November 2021 to March 2022 . In Bundibugyo district for example, the youth counselor after the training submitted a report to RAC, raising various service delivery concerns in Bundibugyo. The concerns raised were presented to the CAO for response and action. A case in point is a youth from Bundibugyo who after the training wrote to the CAO, detailing service delivery gaps and accountability issues, and as such demanding for his action

RAC was copied in the letter and subsequently followed up with different stakeholders including CAO, RDC, DISO and the Deputy RDC for verification, response and action of the allegations raised by the youth.

Key among the concerns raised were;

 Case 1. Alleged deployment of Balikuraha John who is serving an interdiction. That Mr. Balikuraha John was interdicted for indiscipline and mismanagement UNEB funds. Despite the interdiction, It’s alleged that the said officer had been seen monitoring schools during the lockdown, and that he had been delegated by the DEO to approve teachers’ salaries in the month of December 2021.

Action:

When the RAC staff followed up this case with the CAO, he confirmed the allegations. Upon investigations, he found out that Mr. Balikuraha was serving an interdiction which needed to be lifted on that day according to the letter written by the District service commission. The CAO lifted the interdiction and gave him another one pending further investigations.

Case 2: Alleged penalizing of Head teachers due to accessing and withdrawal of UPE funds from accounts. According to the CAO, there was a circular stopping Head teachers from withdrawing UPE funds but most of the Head teachers had withdrawn the money. Some of these schools include Kalera PS, Bundimwendi, Simbya PS, Nyamugongo PS, Bundikakemba PS, Kuuka PS, Bundimbele PS, Bundingoma Ps, Galiraya Ps, Bundikahondo PS, Irambura PS, Irango PS, Hakitengya PS, Buhundu PS, Burondo PS, kanyangoma PS, Kanamabala PS, Busengerwa PS, Bumate PS and Bundimagwara PS among others.

           Action:

CAO wrote to the bank to ascertain the balances of schools, he realized that out of 107 schools 18 had withdrawn the money and put it to their personal use yet he had given them a circular halting any withdraw of the monies. All the 18 teachers were interdicted. He issued them with another letter instructing them to bank the money, and halted their appointment as head teachers and asked them to show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken against them. 16 out of the 18 complied and refunded the money. However, the Head teacher, Kahembe primary school who had used part of the money to roof his house and the other sum was used to treat his sick wife. The other head master had bought his own private land using the funds in question.All these

 In Kasese district, over 50 defilement cases were reported to RAC by the monitors. RAC working with the probation officers supported the victims to go to court for prosecution so as to attain justice.

Round table meetings: a total of 66 round table meetings were conducted across the 66 sub-counties of project implementation. In attendance were selected youth leaders, monitors, sub-county leaders, RAC focal persons and staff. The round table meetings provided a platform for leaders to respond to service delivery concerns raised through the monitoring reports by the youth and monitors. In Fort Portal city for example there was a loud outcry on the poor state of roads and poor drainage systems. The division mayor in response provided an update on the plan to work on some of the roads within the city in the current financial year. Issues that were not concluded or responded to were submitted to leaders for response at the district level

1. Radio programs: a total of 9 radio programs were conducted in the districts of Kyegegwa, Kasese, Bundibugyo, and Fort Portal city. In attendance were the RAC focal person, CDOs, and selected youth leaders from the afore-mentioned districts. The talk-shows provided a platform for the youth to air out their service delivery concerns for response by the respective duty bearers. Pertinent issues raised include among others the high unemployment rate among the youth, the youth dabbed as rebels/opposition whenever they demand for accountability from their leaders, lack of vocational skills to enable them indulge in income generating activities, lack of capital and collateral security to access bank loans for development, effects of COVID 19 among other concerns. The CDOs offered response and guidance to the youth in regard to the concerns raised, and advised them to always engage the duty bearers for assistance on how to address their concerns. One of the concerns raised was the lack of information by the youth on the available government programs; in response, the CDOs CDOs welcomed the youth to their offices to get information on all the available government programmes but also talked about opportunity for the youth to access 30% under the new Parish Development Model (PDM) funds.

The radio programs further enhanced youth skills and confidence in public speech and expression of their concerns. A total of 9 youth participated in each of the Radio programmes held on various radio stations .Youth have encouraged other youth to join anti-corruption work and engage their leaders a case in point is where it was alleged that the Sports in-charge of the guild of Mountains of the moon University had mismanaged some funds during the sports event; several youth raised a petition and recovered 800,000/= that was misappropriated. RAC encouraged the youth leaders to be accountable first before holding others (leaders) accountable.

Monitoring, reporting and case follow up: Considering the fact that the issues reported to RAC by the youth have been followed up, RAC has received several other cases of defilement in Kasese and has subsequently supported the communities in following up the various cases that mainly affect the youth with various stake holders. A case - SD ref; 34/26/08/2021 that had been mishandled by police at Bwera police station was reported to RAC for follow up. RAC followed up the matter and the file was called for by the RSA in Kasese.

Also, during the monitoring exercise by the youth in Kasese, they observed absence of a hand washing facility at Nyakatonzi HC11 and when they enquired from the in charge as to why this wasn’t in place, he replied that the facility had no water source. The youth therefore engaged the Sub county chief during the round table meeting, who then made a directive to the in charge to contact NWSC to provide BOQS

The ‘Listen to Uganda Project’ was implemented by Wizarts Foundation in collaboration with Anti-Corruption Agencies with support from GIZ. The project was aimed at contributing towards the reduction of corrupt practices in the day to day lives of Ugandans through media intervention of radio dramas that depict corruption scenarios.

In Toro sub-region, the drama series were run on VOT fm in collaboration with Rwenzori Anti-Corruption Coalition (RAC). The Rwenzori Anti-corruption Coalition (RAC), which brings together anti-corruption actors, was founded in 2002 to empower communities to expose and cause action against corruption in the Rwenzori Region. The coalition operates in Fort Portal city and the 9 districts of the Rwenzori region where it has established branches in 63 sub-counties, each composed of 15 grassroots communities that monitor service delivery in their localities

As an institution that seeks to promote accountability, RAC was selected by GIZ to coordinate this media campaign through identifying and inviting relevant panellists to participate in the talk shows

To ensure wide following and participation by the community/audience, promos were run prior to the program, notifying the listeners about the time, day, topic for discussion and panelists for the show.

The drama episodes were run for 15 minutes twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays; 10:00am-10.30am) during the Bukiire program

Also, radio-talk shows were run on a monthly basis and here, technical staff from the institutions of IAF were invited to discuss the different segments of the drama episodes previously run. The talk-shows were run on Fridays for an hour, and at the same time provide their perspective on the issues raised in the drama series.

A total of 3 radio talk shows were run throughout the life of the project. Panelists for the talk-shows included;

1. The Regional Inspector of Government - Inspectorate of Government – Mr. Kajura Nicholas
2. The Regional Police Commander (Rwenzori region) - SP Kigozi Lameck
3. The Senior Auditor General – Mr. Kigundu Hussein
4. Member– District Service Commissioner (Kabarole District) – Mr. Kabaseke Clovis
5. The RAC focal Person – Fort Portal/Kabarole District – Mr. Manyindo Emmanuel

The above panelists were selected based on the community concerns raised during the airing of the drama episodes. These include;

• High demand for bribes by traffic officers: a number of callers decried the high corruption tendencies within the police, especially the traffic police who ask for bribes from motorists
• High corruption rate in churches; some callers alleged that some church leaders mismanage funds collected in church; that they never provide accountability to their followers. They therefore requested that churches too should be audited just like the other public facilities.
• Biased reporting by some media houses; there is a tendency to give un-balanced reporting some media houses – they are politically influenced and as such provide unbalanced reports, hence misleading the public
• The high corruption rate at national level demotivates community initiatives – the president should wipe out corruption from the big offices first before coming down at the lower level.
• In Fort Portal and Kabarole district, callers decried the high corruption tendencies in the district service commission; without paying high bribes, you cannot get any job.
• Within the judiciary, corruption rates are so high; the poor can hardly win any case; they are denied justice.
• Some callers expressed interest in accessing the reports from OAG. They asked how one can access these reports. Others called to know who audits the Office of the Auditor General

All the above concerns were responded to by the respective panelists during the talk show.

Key achievements

Some of the achievements realized from this program include;

1. Deeper understanding by the community on what corruption means, its consequences and how to desist from it. Through the drama series, anti-corruption messages were simplified for the lay person to understand the evils of corruption and why they ought to desist from it
2. Because the awareness campaign messages were run in form of drama on a periodic basis, the listeners were able to consistently follow the series and as such obtain deeper understanding of corruption and how to deal with it. Also the drama series, though educative were entertaining and as such attractive for the community to consistently follow.
3. The monthly talk-shows conducted provided a platform for the selected panelists to respond to the questions raised by the community. Using the moderator’s guide, the radio talk-show panelists were able to enlighten the community about the duties/obligations of their respective agencies i.e. IG, OAG and police among others. Through these talk-shows, the panelists were able to clear the myths about these institutions and as such encouraged the community to engage and utilize them to address any corruption-related cases. As a result, the citizens were able to regain confidence in the government agencies mandated to fight against corruption, contrary to the general public belief/perceptions
4. Through the radio drama series, the community was able to identify similar issues/cases within their localities and as such raised them for clarity, response/action by the respective duty bearers/panelists during the talk shows. Examples are Issues of payment of police bond and payment of bribes for health services.

Challenges

• One of the major challenges noted during this project was the limited time allocated for response to community concerns raised. The one hour provided was not sufficient to run drama skits, obtain panelists opinion/views and at the same time engage the community for feedback. During some radio talk-shows, some of the callers were denied opportunity to raise their concerns due to time factor.
• Language barrier: in some talk-shows, the issue of language was a problem mostly because some of the preferred technical staff (panelists) best positioned to participate in the talk show could not communicate in the local language. This therefore required the moderator to translate the message for the listeners and vice versa. This was time-consuming and therefore shortened the available time for engagement between the listeners and the panelists

Lessons learned

• Awareness creation through drama series is effective in sensitizing masses for deeper understanding about the evils of corruption. It enables the community to identify the different forms of corruption and its negative effects and as such the need to fight against it.

Recommendations

1. There is need to allocate more time for community feedback/call-in during the talk shows
2. There is need for more talk shows.

Rwenzori Anticorruption Coalition (RAC) is a citizen led anti-corruption organization that was formed in 2002 with the core mission of empowering communities in the Rwenzori region to expose and cause action against corruption, as a means to improve service delivery and hence alleviate poverty and suffering.

The just-concluded project was implemented with funding from GIZ, with the main aim of enhancing improved service delivery in the district of Kitagwenda and Fort Portal City.

A lot of achievements have been realized in the six-months of project implementation. These include;

Response and action taken upon cases reported: throughout the six months of project implementation, a total of …. Cases in Kitagwenda and Fort Portal were reported to RAC for response and action. Out of these, 41 were responded to and concluded, while the remaining 55 are still under follow up.

In Kitagwenda district for example, a number of projects were reportedly stalled due to diversion of funds worth UGX 450,000,000/= (Four Hundred Fifty Million Shillings) by some unscrupulous district officials including   the District Chief Finance Officer, Principal Assistant Secretary and the Human Resource Officer among others. Upon receipt of these reports by our grassroots monitors, RAC engaged the Kitagwenda District CAO for verification of allegations raised. The CAO confirmed that the first quarter internal audit report had revealed that funds amounting to 450million had been misappropriated and as such, officials implicated in this saga were served tasked to account or refund the monies in question but they failed. RAC therefore mounted pressure on the CAO to take further action – the officials were thus interdicted to pave way for further investigations. RAC engaged several stakeholders including the State House Anti-Corruption Coalition (SHACU), the Local Government monitoring unit, and police, for intervention into this matter. RAC further requested the Auditor General to institute a forensic audit into this financial saga. As a result of our interventions, SHACU, the Local Government monitoring unit, and police went down to Kitagwenda for further investigations. The accused were arrested and later interdicted. The Office of the Auditor General in response to our request is set to conduct a forensic audit into the Kitagwenda District fund misallocation. The findings from the forensic audit will inform the next step of action. This and several other cases reported to RAC during project implementation have earned RAC community trust that she cases brought to her attention can be followed up to logical conclusion.

Correction of defects/project variations: through our interventions defects reported on some projects were corrected. In Ntara Sub-county at Ntara HCIV in Kitagwenda district, RAC through our project monitoring and case follow up tasked the district leadership to correct the variations at Ntara HCIV. Contrary to use of terrazzo on the floor of the mortuary, the contractor, under the influence of the district engineer had deviated from the BoQs to use tiles instead of terrazzo on the mortuary floor. When RAC observed these variations during our PPDA contract monitoring of projects, we brought it to the attention of the leaders for action. After several engagement meetings and follow up visits with the duty bearers and the respective stakeholders, the contractor was instructed to remove the tiles and replace them with terrazzo as quoted in the BoQs. The Health In-charge of Ntara HCIV expressed his gratitude to RAC for her intervention and efforts that caused the redo of the floor.

In a related development, RAC’s joint monitoring visits with key stakeholders further contributed to improved service delivery at Ntara HCIV. During one of the joint monitoring visits to Ntara HCIV, the in-charge brought to our attentions some of the challenges that were gravely affecting the quality of service delivery. They included among others;

• Inadequate water supply at the health center, with a non-functional water tank
• Poor sanitation at the health facility with rubbish littered around the compound and the toilets littered with feaces
• Inadequate staffing at for the health center, hence creating heavy work-load for the available staff. The health in-charge, due to lack of another doctor at the facility at one time was forced to work and operate on patients even when he was infected with COVID19, pausing a high risk for his life and the patients worked on.

The above, and other concerns when shared with RAC were brought to the attention of the CAO for address. The CAO pledged to address all the concerns raised within the shortest time possible. During our subsequent monitoring visit to Kitagwenda district and Ntara health center, we were pleased to find that all the above concerns had been addressed. The DHO had been posted at the health center to support the doctor. In fact, at the time of our visit, the in-charge had gone for his leave, something he had not received in a very long time. The compound and lavatories were all clean with supply of clean water for the entire facility. RAC has been greatly appreciated for their support and follow up without which most of the challenges reported would probably still be existing.

Improved monitoring and reporting: the mentoring and training sessions offered to the monitors and activists across the 8 sub-counties increased their knowledge and ability to monitor and report cases of corruption to RAC and duty bearers. A total of … men and … women were trained in IG concepts, PPDA contract monitoring and analysis, interpretation of internal audit reports. The knowledge obtained from these trainings has greatly contributed to their ability to engage duty bearers for accountability and at the same time report cases of corruption when sited.

Strengthened collaboration with state agencies and duty bearers: Our interventions further strengthened synergies and collaboration with the duty bearers, a factor that has greatly increased expedited response to issues reported by the citizens. In addition, RAC’s continued follow up of cases for response by the relevant duty bearers, in addition to the various platforms created for leaders to respond to citizens’ issues have contributed to increased responsiveness of government towards citizens’ concerns. In Fort Portal city for example, a number of concerns raised during our social audit were addressed. These include; Degradation of Buhoiga Green Belt by one; Haji Wakhab. During our social audit with Fort Portal City stakeholders, it was resolved that Haji Wakhab is served with a restoration order to recover the lost vegetation and at the same time stop the illegal activities that were going on in this area. In a follow up visit and stakeholder engagement, we were informed that Haji Wakhab had complied; all the illegal activities had been stopped, the euculiptus trees planted in the wetland had been removed and the drainage channels had been blocked. Similarly, Karambi-Nyakarongo and Kangama swamp that had for a very long time been degraded by one –Musa Swaib – a resident of Karambi was restored after our recommendations during the joint monitoring visit to the area, whereby the monitoring team tasked the environment officer together with the office of the RCC to intervene and stop the illegal activities here. Following our recommendations, the Physical Planning Committee visited the area and advised Mr. Swaib on how best to utilize the area in question and he has since been compliant, and the illegal activities were stopped.

Lessons Learned

• Having signed MoUs with the district local governments enhances access to information and strong working relations.
• Inception meetings are key in promoting ownership of projects by the key stakeholders.
• Joint monitoring between CSOs and Government facilitates expeditious  action on cases

Download Document  for all Projects information 

The project -  Support to District Integrity Promotion Forum is a GIZ funded project implemented in Fort Portal city, Kabarole, Kasese, Kamwenge, Kitagwenda, Bundibugyo, Ntoroko, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, and Bunyangabu.

Under this project, the following activities were implemented

1. Project Inception Meetings: these were carried out across the 8 districts of the Rwenzori region (i.e. Kamwenge, Bundibugyo, Ntoroko, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Bunyangabu, Kasese and Kabarole.) Fort Portal and Kitagwenda were left out because the inception had been conducted in phase 1 of the same project. The purpose of the inception meetings was to introduce the new GIZ project – Strengthening DIPF to all the key stakeholders right from the start for ownership and effective implementation. The meetings were attended by various participants including; the RAC monitors, district heads of department, the RDCs, District Chairpersons, CAOs, RAC board members and focal persons, the media and RAC staff. The meetings brought together a total of 432 participants including 310 male, 122 female, 166 youth, 253 adults, 8 elderly and 5 undisclosed age.

During the inception meetings, the new project was introduced to the target beneficiaries and as such, they (beneficiaries) appreciated RAC for the initiative. The inception meetings were significant in increasing ownership of the project by the target beneficiaries and as such, they were able to draw recommendations for better realization of project results, and laid a strong foundation for effective implementation of the project.

1. RAC Monitors trained in online monitoring

In order to improve on her monitoring and reporting, Rwenzori Anti-Corruption Coalition (RAC) recently introduced online reporting apps to enable monitors and whistle-blowers to report to RAC in a quick, efficient and effective manner…

The RAC App…

The RAC app is a new monitoring and reporting tool through which all the RAC monitors and whistle blowers can report to RAC all forms of corruption without necessarily visiting her office. Through this app, the monitors can submit reports on the status of service delivery in the health and education sector using the community score-card. Through the scorecard, the monitors together with the service providers/duty bearers jointly assess the gaps identified at a given facility and agree on the steps to undertake in addressing the identified gaps. An action plan is then drawn with timelines and responsible personnel to ensure that the resolutions agreed upon are realized.

The PPDA App...

The PPDA community monitoring systems app is another online monitoring tool recently adopted by RAC. RAC in partnership with the PPDA introduced the new app to the RAC monitors to enable them monitor all projects procured through PPDA. Through this tool, the community is able to monitor the progress and status of a given project to ensure that implementation is done according to plan, and as such avoid post mortem reporting.

In support of this program, PPDA awarded RAC a total of 8 phones and these were distributed to the RAC focal persons for effective monitoring and reporting

The training…

To keep all the RAC monitors, staff and focal persons up to speed with the new online monitoring and reporting tools, various trainings in the usage of these apps were conducted including a ToT training for selected trainers at the regional level and thereafter, trainings at the sub-county for all the 63 RAC branches spread across the Rwenzori region.

1. Conduct monitoring activities by 63 RAC monitors: after the training session, all the 63 branches/sub-counties conducted monitoring of selected government projects/programs including health facilities and projects/infrastructure under construction using the RAC and PPDA. The monitoring reports were submitted to the secretariat and the issues raised were presented to leaders for response during the round table meetings
2. Round table meetings:– a total of 63 round table meetings were conducted across the 66 sub-counties of project implementation. In attendance were selected monitors, sub-county leaders, RAC focal persons and staff. The round table meetings provided a platform for leaders to respond to service delivery concerns raised through the monitoring reports by the monitors.
3. Maintain toll free line to collect accountability issues and service delivery gaps for follow up: A total of 5 cases were reported through the RAC toll free line, and these are still under follow up for response and action.

1. IAF joint-inspection visit to the Rwenzori

In the month of May, 24 – 26, 2022 the Inter-Agency Forum (IAF) led by the Minister of Ethics and Integrity – Hon. Rose Lilly Akello stormed the region, in a joint-inspection visit to selected districts of Kitagwenda, Ntoroko, Kabarole and Fort Portal city.

The inspection was organized to resolve major accountability issues that undermined effective provision of services to the people of Rwenzori Sub-Region          

The major participants included the representatives of the Anti-Corruption Inter-Agency Forum – specifically from DEI, CID, Public Service Commission, State House Anti-Corruption Unit, PPDA, and DPP. Others included; district leaders, security personnel, civil society organizations, media, and the general Public. The method employed for the inspection was a boardroom discussion of issues as raised by Rwenzori Anti-Corruption Coalition and other stakeholders, and thereafter, joint field inspections held. As natural justice demands, the ones cited in the reported cases were required to give responses to the allegations prior to having an action taken by the IAF.

Key issues handled inter alia included shoddy construction works on government projects, improper accountability, flouting procurement procedures and illegal staff recruitment. Various actions were taken which among others included arresting some of the suspects in such scandals.

This meeting ended with key commitments from the major stakeholders involved. The MSEI and the entire IAF team committed to have actions that were taken followed up to their logical conclusion and also pledged expeditiousness in execution of the actions taken. The district leaders on the other hand offered to support the investigation team with the relevant information that can lead to justice. RAC pledged to follow-up on the commitments made and to continue reporting to IAF other issues that are seen to affect service delivery

1. PLATFORMS FOR MONITORING AND REPORTING SET UP AND MAINTAINED

RAC maintained the various Whatsapp groups to facilitate continued engagement between citizens and their leaders. Through the Whatsapp groups, the citizens were able to raise service delivery concerns in their localities and in response, the duty bearers on the same groups were able to give feedback, clarification and action upon some of the issues raised.

Further still, the citizens through the Whatsapp group were able to seek for clarification and information on how the new Parish Development Model is going to run. The various focal persons on these groups were able to throw more light on this model, and at the same time provide answers to the questions raised. A copy of the updated guidelines of the PDM was also shared across the RAC Whatsapp groups for wider information sharing.

1. Case follow up

A total of 83 cases reported to RAC were monitored and followed up for action by leaders. 61 of these cases were presented to the IAF for action during the regional inspection monitoring visit to the region. All the cases reported to the IAF were responded to and are still undergoing investigation by the different IAF agencies including SHACU, CIID, PPDA and DPP.

Case examples reported and are still under investigations include among others;

1. Alleged ghost staff in various health facilities and schools in Kamwenge and Kitagwenda district – this case was taken up for further investigation by CIID and DPP
2. Alleged negligence of duty by Dr. Karungi who doubles as the Ag. DHO - Kitagwenda district, leading to the death of a mother and her baby – a directive to appoint a substantive DHO was made during the meeting while investigations go on.
3. Alleged mismanagement of funds meant to construct the girl’s hostel at Karugutu SS – CIID and IGG were instructed to expedite investigations and conclusion of this case and appropriate action taken
4. Alleged failure to complete Katiti bridge by Anoma Contractor – a verification monitoring visit to this bridge was made and the Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity ordered the engineer to ensure that the defects on this bridge are corrected with immediate effect.
5. Alleged misappropriation of funds worth 356,000,000/= meant for development projects for health, Education, water and Roads were mismanaged, hence halting the intended projects including Kanara water project, Kikazi-Ntara road among others, thereby denying the people of these areas access to clean water and quality service delivery.
6. Alleged Illegal mining and lumbering at Kashyoha-Kitoomi Forest Reserve in Kitagwenda district: the illegal activities of lumbering and mining in this forest reserve have resulted into environmental degradation. As a Central Reserve Forest, it is under the management of NFA and as such, Kitagwenda District Local Government cannot do much in controlling the activities undertaken therein.