Citizens not fully involved in service delivery, says report

Approved. Uganda Human Rights chairperson Med Kaggwa and ISER Executive Director Salimah Namusobya launch the report in Kampala last week. PHOTO BY EPHRAIM KASOZI

What you need to know:

  • Concern. The report touched on areas of health, education and water provision.
  • Speaking at the function, the chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, Mr Med Kaggwa, said the report has challenged his Commission to include the issues of participation in service delivery processes in their ongoing civic education drives.

Kampala. There is low citizen participation in service delivery at the local government level, a new report has revealed.
The report, which was conducted between 2016 and 2018 in Bushenyi, Kyenjojo, Kumi, Iganga, Mbale and Kayunga districts by the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), an NGO, focused on citizen participation on water user committees (WUCs), health units management committees (HUMCs) and school management committees (SMCs).

While presenting the findings of the report in Kampala last week, ISER programmes director Angella Nabwowe Kasule said they found out that the 58 per cent of the respondents said their village water user committees were non-functional and 80 per cent of those interviewed on health service delivery revealed they have not accessed any meetings of HUMCs.

The report also reveals that 65 per cent of those interviewed on education service delivery said there were functional SMCs in their communities.
“We found that most of the services are concentrated near the district headquarters in the urban centres, hence the rural poor facing accessibility challenges.

The best hospitals, schools and water sources are near the district headquarters,” Ms Kasule said.
Looking at the water user committee functionality, Bushenyi District lagged behind, with 85 per cent of its WUCs non-functional, followed by Kyenjojo at 68 per cent and Mbale at 65 per cent.

Speaking at the function, the chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, Mr Med Kaggwa, said the report has challenged his Commission to include the issues of participation in service delivery processes in their ongoing civic education drives.