Gombolola bimeeza can wipe out corruption
Jan 29, 2009
THE New Vision lead story on Tuesday January 23, where the President made a pronouncement to establish public fora popularly known as bimeeza, at the Gombolola (sub-county) level for local leaders to explain to the public how funds are utilised, is a welc
By Rukia Mbaziira
THE New Vision lead story on Tuesday January 23, where the President made a pronouncement to establish public fora popularly known as bimeeza, at the Gombolola (sub-county) level for local leaders to explain to the public how funds are utilised, is a welcome move.
This move creates hope in the Government’s fight against corruption, abuse of office, wastage of public resources and other governance issues that have ruined the quality of service delivery.
The President’s decision fits well in the decentralisation framework which emphasises participation of local people in monitoring the utilisation of public funds and on the overall impact of better service delivery especially at the grassroot level.
The Constitution gives every citizen the mandate to monitor the utilisation of public funds but there has been fear and laxity on how this could be effected. The President’s directive now gives the public the basis for action.
The President’s idea has already worked elsewhere, especially with the civil society organisations. One example is that of Uganda Debt Network (UDN), a civil society organisation that advocates for pro-poor polices.
It rolled out this strategy in 2002 through her Community Based Monitoring and Evaluation System. Through the system, UDN has been able to fight the misuse of public resources from the sub-county to district levels.
The strategy has bore fruits in various sub-counties where it is operating. The UDN-facilitated sub-county bimeeza are held twice a year and in here, communities compile a report presented to their leaders where they question and challenge them on value-for-money on various projects, especially Universal Primary Education, water and sanitation, health and roads.
Leaders always answer appropriately to all the queries, and make themselves accountable to the public. This has helped, in a sense that the leaders are cautious of their spending habits since they are aware that they are being monitored. These bimeeza also generate ideas of the community’s spending priorities.
One big problem the system faces is the anticipated resistance from local government officials who think that they are being witch-hunted. However, if they concede to the idea, we shall see the level of corruption dropping tremendously at the local government level.
Though much has been said that the fight against corruption should start from the top, there is need to first wipeout the vice by empowering the grassroots communities to be able to demand full accountability and better service delivery from their leaders.
The Government will need to fully furnish the communities on all disbursements and their intended use to be able to gain mileage out of the bimeeza strategy. Knowledge is wealth. It is only when equipped with information on funds received that communities will be able to demand full accountability.
Another issue that the President should not ignore as he implements the bimeeza strategy is that, the communities should be actively involved in the budget planning processes in their respective sub-counties. With this, they will be able to demand for accountability from their leaders.
Civil society organisations strongly believe that citizen participation in monitoring and evaluation of poverty eradication programmes should be viewed within the broader agenda of increasing democratic space, public accountability and transparency for the benefit of the poor people under decentralised governance.
The writer is Communications Officer, Uganda Debt Network
THE New Vision lead story on Tuesday January 23, where the President made a pronouncement to establish public fora popularly known as bimeeza, at the Gombolola (sub-county) level for local leaders to explain to the public how funds are utilised, is a welcome move.
This move creates hope in the Government’s fight against corruption, abuse of office, wastage of public resources and other governance issues that have ruined the quality of service delivery.
The President’s decision fits well in the decentralisation framework which emphasises participation of local people in monitoring the utilisation of public funds and on the overall impact of better service delivery especially at the grassroot level.
The Constitution gives every citizen the mandate to monitor the utilisation of public funds but there has been fear and laxity on how this could be effected. The President’s directive now gives the public the basis for action.
The President’s idea has already worked elsewhere, especially with the civil society organisations. One example is that of Uganda Debt Network (UDN), a civil society organisation that advocates for pro-poor polices.
It rolled out this strategy in 2002 through her Community Based Monitoring and Evaluation System. Through the system, UDN has been able to fight the misuse of public resources from the sub-county to district levels.
The strategy has bore fruits in various sub-counties where it is operating. The UDN-facilitated sub-county bimeeza are held twice a year and in here, communities compile a report presented to their leaders where they question and challenge them on value-for-money on various projects, especially Universal Primary Education, water and sanitation, health and roads.
Leaders always answer appropriately to all the queries, and make themselves accountable to the public. This has helped, in a sense that the leaders are cautious of their spending habits since they are aware that they are being monitored. These bimeeza also generate ideas of the community’s spending priorities.
One big problem the system faces is the anticipated resistance from local government officials who think that they are being witch-hunted. However, if they concede to the idea, we shall see the level of corruption dropping tremendously at the local government level.
Though much has been said that the fight against corruption should start from the top, there is need to first wipeout the vice by empowering the grassroots communities to be able to demand full accountability and better service delivery from their leaders.
The Government will need to fully furnish the communities on all disbursements and their intended use to be able to gain mileage out of the bimeeza strategy. Knowledge is wealth. It is only when equipped with information on funds received that communities will be able to demand full accountability.
Another issue that the President should not ignore as he implements the bimeeza strategy is that, the communities should be actively involved in the budget planning processes in their respective sub-counties. With this, they will be able to demand for accountability from their leaders.
Civil society organisations strongly believe that citizen participation in monitoring and evaluation of poverty eradication programmes should be viewed within the broader agenda of increasing democratic space, public accountability and transparency for the benefit of the poor people under decentralised governance.
The writer is Communications Officer, Uganda Debt Network