Citizens Need to Demand Improved Service Delivery

February 20, 2024

Dear Editor,

Last week, the Inspector General of Government, Hon. Beti Olive Namisango Kamya made an impromptu visit to the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) offices in Kampala as part of her investigations into allegations of mismanagement and maladministration at the agency.

The ombudsman arrived at the DIT premises at 8 a.m. expecting to find all staff seated and busy attending to their roles. She was taken aback when more than half of the staff were yet to arrive.

Whereas the IGG found that particular office without staff, this is representative of the service delivery crisis in Uganda. Public entities in Uganda are dogged by demotivated workers,  inadequate, poor-quality, and inaccessible public services, grossly deficient monitoring mechanisms and less-participatory monitoring processes in critical sectors such as health, education, water and sanitation.

The service delivery crisis in Uganda has significant implications for the country’s development agenda, as it hinders progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The lack of access to basic services also hinders economic development, as it limits productivity and human capital development. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS, 2012), 85 per cent of Ugandans live in rural areas and depend solely on government to provide basic services. The situation is particularly dire for women and girls who have been found to heavily rely on public service delivery due to their weaker economic standing and gender roles. Absenteeism, late coming and strikes by health professionals are synonymous with government health care facilities. Many a time citizens go to these health centers and health workers are unavailable. The absence of health staff contributes to increased cases of maternal and infant mortality due to the time sensitive nature of child birth and delicate nature of infants.

The Annual Maternal and Perinatal Deaths Surveillance Report 2022/2023 which the Ministry of Health released earlier this week portrays a worrying picture. The number of women who die while giving birth has increased after stagnating for two years from 1,226 in 2021/2022 to 1,276 in 2022/2023. Several factors contribute to the spike in numbers, however, the Health Ministry’s Permanent Secretary has since faulted health workers who abscond from duty.

Article 38 (1) of the Ugandan Constitution gives every Ugandan citizen the right to participate in the affairs of government; service delivery being a key element of citizen participation. One of the ways citizens can participate and advocate for quality service delivery is by using their voice to demand and hold civil servants and government accountable. We at the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) believe that in order to build a cadre of citizens with amplified voice and agency, demanding change and holding leaders accountable, conscientization and awareness raising remain a critical antidote. Accordingly, we continue to convene spaces for citizens to raise awareness of the significance of collective activism, hold dialogues to interrogate governance; and have engagements on vital national issues. The awareness raising work that we have done this year has reached 22,529 citizens from 14 districts.

Our experience over the last 28 years has shown that providing a platform for community members to demonstrate their leadership and hold leaders accountable results into equitable service delivery. FOWODE uses the Village Budget Club model, a community led advocacy approach to foster accountability and transparency to promote economic democracy through enhancing voice, participation and awareness of rights and obligations. Through this model, we have demonstrated that once communities are empowered with knowledge and skills to participate effectively in economic and political processes, they can demand for equitable service delivery.

As we applaud the move by the IGG, addressing the service delivery crisis in Uganda requires urgent action from government to improve access and quality of public services, particularly in critical sectors such as healthcare, education, and water and sanitation. The government must prioritize investments in these sectors and promote gender-responsive policies that address the disproportionate impact of the service delivery crisis on women and girls. Once we stand up together as citizens, communities and civil society to hold those responsible accountable and demand for quality service delivery in all sectors, we shall undoubtedly have improved services, increased social accountability and responsive policy change which will in turn promote democratic governance.

Esther Nassali Masanso (The author) is a Senior Communications Officer at the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE)

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