Report: District Leaders Abandon Voters After Elections

http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=55145

Elected leaders in Kabarole district don’t consult their electorates on issues that affect them.

A performance review report released by the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), reveals that district councillors and LC3 Chairpersons have abandoned their electorates after the elections.

The Local Government Councils Score-Card Initiative (LGCSCI) is a 10 year project running from 2009 to 2019. It is implemented by ACODE with a goal of improving the quality of public service delivery by building the demand-side of governance and accountability.

According to the report, failure by the elected leaders to consult the voters on issues like health, water and sanitation, environment, education facilities, poor road networks, and poor sanitation has affected service delivery.

The report also states that the elected leaders often lack knowledge about their roles and responsibilities, the skills to enact bye-laws and ordinances and the role of the district technical staff.  

The report further shows that out of the 13 district councilors, only five have been in touch with their electorates, while out of the 13 LC3 chairpersons, only six have consulted the voters.

Some members of the public are happy that the report has exposed their leaders as incompetent with some saying that they should not seek re-election in the next general elections.

David Karamagi, a resident of Harugongo parish in Kichwamba Sub County, says that since 2011, the sub county councilor, LC3 chairperson and other elected leaders have never gone back to the electorate.  Karamagi says that most of the roads in the area are impassable especially during the rainy season because of lack of maintenance, which has affected the movement of goods.

He says that during the previous campaigns, the leaders promised to lobby for improved services, but have done nothing.

//Cue in: “We have a problem…
Cue out: …not safe.”//

Maureen Baguma, a resident of Nsura in Bukuku Sub County, says the health centre III has never been renovated despite several appeals from the residents. She also says none of the elected leaders has held meetings with the residents to inform them of any district plans or activities.

Baguma notes that unless the district leadership acts now, she will be forced to mobilize other voters not to return the current leaders in the 2016 elections.

However, Emmanuel Tugume, the district councillor representing Kasenda Sub County says that they have lobbied for services, but are sometimes frustrated by the district which claims that there are no adequate funds.