When peasants become prefects to monitor community projects

Members of Kisiita Community Monitoring Group attend a classroom meeting with pupils at Kisiita Primary School. They compelled the school head teacher to refund money they collected from each pupil after failing to show cause for it. PHOTO BY ISMAEL MUSA LADU

By ISMAIL MUSA LADU

Posted  Saturday, June 29   2013 at  01:00In Summary

They have also helped reduce teacher and pupil absenteeism and cash misuse in schools, hospitals and district offices.

Kibaale

They entrusted their leaders for social welfare and order in the community but Kibaale residents were let down so many times they lost count.

When they made a decision, it was to appoint community prefects that would ensure the public good. The 20-member team, all peasants, say they decided to take up the roles when it became evident that their community leaders were powerless or overwhelmed by societal ills. “Although we now like what we are doing, it is important to note that prevailing circumstances forced us into these roles—watching over local and districts officials,” Mr Lawrence Ngabirano, a member of Kisiita Community Monitoring Group in Kibaale told the Saturday Monitor. 

Through the monitoring group called the Village Budget Clubs (VBC), Mr Ngabirano who is also the treasurer of the Kisiita VBC said they have been able to cause change within a short period of time.

Monitoring school funds
A case in point is when they compelled the head teacher and other teaching staff of Kisiita Primary School to refund the Shs7,000 they collected from each pupil after it emerged that there was no justification for the money.

“We thought that was irregular. So we called a meeting and told the head teacher and his staff to refund the money. And they did,” Mr Ngabirano said. The 20-member VBC have also since drastically minimised what used to be the rampant teachers and pupil absenteeism.

They also dealt with failure to adhere to punctuality by teachers and pupils. They have since ensured that the school has adequate number of teachers. Ms Ruth Katahikire, a VBC member of Nyamiirami, Buhonda parish in Kibaale, said as a result of their monitoring efforts, teachers are more disciplined than ever before. “Those teachers did not want to be brought to order. Many of them tried to intimidate us but we stuck to our guns—monitoring and accountability roles, and now we are beginning to reap the fruits of our tireless engagements,” Ms Katahikire said.

In Luwero District, peasants have also employed the same techniques to help improve quality of social services in their community.

Although Mr Jubilee Matovu is not a member of any of the Luweero VBC, his story tells of why such a community monitoring and accountability group is important. “The VBC unearthed a corruption scandal where UPE funds given to Kasala Church of Uganda Primary School were being stolen,” he said. “The VBC then forced the school to issue accountability and a report after I have failed to get it for two terms. It was at that point that we discovered that instead of Shs720,000 of UPE funds being given, only Shs470,000 was being declared.”

The groups apply constant pressure on school or hospital authorities and government officials to have them take responsibility for their action and ultimately become more accountable to their communities. “Most of the officials think we are incapable of bringing them to order. They think because they are educated, they are untouchables,” Ms Jessica Nakyibumba, the vice chairperson of one of the Luweero VBC said in recent interview.

“Many district officials do not like attending our interface meetings because we press them to account for their actions. Some of us are also being intimidated by those officials, but the good news is that we know we are on the right side.”

According to the Kibaale District Town Planner, Mr George Willy Tusabomu, VBCs have excelled in curbing practices such as teachers and pupil absenteeism. He said they have ensured that the community health centres are well managed to organise themselves into a force to reckon with, particularly, when demanding for value for money. He said this has made every village want to adopt a monitoring model. However, not all their efforts have yielded fruits.

Their work is undermined on the grounds that they do not have the competencies to hold a head teacher or a health official, or an accountant accountable because they are mostly illiterate.

The capacity of the VBCs also needs to be enhanced further as proving corruption cases, even at the community level, demands more than mere observation skills. There is also need for more training especially in sharpening the VBCs ability to not just ask the right questions but also engage the officials without necessarily appearing to be implicating them or violating the rule of innocence till proven guilty. 

Roles of the village budget clubs

Origin of village teams. The Village Budget Clubs is a concept developed by Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) an NGO, to promote accountability from the grassroots level to the national level. 

Pressure. The Village Budget Clubs (VBC) act as a pressure group. Since 2010, they have been engaging the local leadership on budget processes and resource allocation as mandated by the Local Government Act.

Service delivery. They monitor the quality of service delivery in schools, hospitals, agriculture programmes and also organise budget meetings aimed at requesting information on budget issues in their area. 

Exposing fraud. Many cases of fraud and mismanagement have been brought to the attention of leaders who, many times, have taken action.

Participating districts. Three VBCs have been established in each of the 16 districts of Kabale, Kibaale, Kibuku, Luweero, Napak, Amuria, Amuru, Kotido, Kitgum, Abim, Busia, Lyantonde, Masindi, Mityana, Wakiso and Gulu.