The challenge: Before 2020, poor selection of contractors and execution of government contracts in Mbale region was common with resultant shoddy works, delayed completion of projects and suspicion of collusion amongst suppliers and government officials among many other challenges. This affected the quality of implementation of government projects in Mbale City and Mbale District.
However, this would change when AFIC, with funding from the Hewlett and Flora Foundation, trained citizens on their right to information and how to request public information under the Access to Information Act and public officials on their obligations and importance of disclosing public information to citizens.
In addition, AFIC selected and trained 10 community monitors in the district and Mbale City on how to track the planning, tendering, award and execution of public contracts using accessed information and contract monitoring tools developed by the project.
Impact: As a result, citizens are now very informed and highly engaged. In one of the cases in Mbale City citizens forced authorities to change the design of the World Bank funded project for the upgrading of city roads. The design had provided for bust stop shelters, but this had been done without consulting residents. During construction, citizens strongly protested, and these were removed from five (5) sites and were installed somewhere else.
In another case, city authorities had approved installation of a structure by Nigerian businessmen in a corridor which citizens use frequently. Residents protested that this would affect their ability to cross through this corridor. They were also suspicious because construction was being done by the developers at night.
In addition to physical protests, residents posted their concerns on social media. Upon reading their concerns, the City Clerk together with a technical team from the City Council inspected the area and indeed established that residents had genuine concerns. The developer was ordered to halt the process and remove their structures.
Another case involved repair of a bridge at Nashibiso connecting Nabumali to Bumboli by the Uganda Roads Authority (UNRA). Following the collapse of the bridge, residents complained to UNRA which in turn deployed engineers to fix the bridge, however, after a few weeks the bridge collapsed again. Citizens complained about poor works and collapse of the bridge again and UNRA responded positively and repaired the bridge again.
The effectiveness of the contribution of citizens has been enabled by increased access to information and responsiveness of City trained public officials. Public officials regularly disclose project information proactively and timely when requested by community monitors and citizens as illustrated below:
“ …we now fully understand that information is not ours but for citizens. We also appreciate that by being informed they give us important feedback which helps us know how contractors are performing on the ground…” Fred Situma, Senior Procurement Officer, Mbale City
As a result of increased disclosure of information to citizens and acting upon their concerns, trust has been established between public authorities and citizens as explained below:
“Previously, we used to misunderstand the intentions of Abdallah, the most active person in asking for information and bringing complaints on projects. Now all agencies appreciate his work especially here at Mbale City, the District Local Government and UNRA….” Ali City Procurement Officer.
At a time where freedom of speech and access to information is key, training on accessibility should be top priority. By giving proper education to those in charge of providing citizens with their right for Access to Information as well as Disclosure, we can ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to exercise their rights guaranteed by law. Its also important that our organisations are held accountable and made aware of the importance of transparency when it comes to such matters.
