E-Society Resource Centre Commissioned in Kasese

From:
New Vision Monday, 25th April, 2011http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/18/753092
Kitaghenda (centre) listening to a presentation during the launch of the e-society By Bernard Masereka THE outgoing Kasese district LC5 chairman, Rev. Can. Julius Kithaghenda, has insisted that Kasese district must be split into more districts in order to create harmony and development in the area. He was speaking at the commissioning of the district e-society resource centre at the district headquarters on Wednesday. Kithaghenda noted that there were many issues that had created disharmony among the people, arguing that splitting the district would be a solution. “For harmony and individual development of our people, the district must be split,” he said. In October last year, the district council approved the proposal to split the district into three districts of Rwenzori, Bwera and Kasese. However, some people, including Omusinga Charles Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom, resisted the proposal, arguing that the timing for the split was bad due to the election campaigns that were going on at the time. Kithaghenda said people should not be intimidated by those who say Kasese was created out of bloodshed and cannot be split. Local government minister Adolf Mwesige in December last year wrote to the district chairman, asking him to seek the opinion of the Rwenzururu cultural institution before the proposal could be presented to the Cabinet. Meanwhile, Mumbere is reportedly going on with consultations on the proposal. On Wednesday, he held a closed meeting with religious leaders in the district to consult them about the proposal. Kasese is embroiled in ethnic conflicts pitting the people in the west of the district against those from the east. The political leadership and civil service jobs in the district have always been contentious and minority tribes have complained of marginalisation. In the proposal for more districts, a constituency for the minority tribes had also been created.

E-society Centre Support Knowledge Building Programme

Ms Fieke Jansen Programme officer ICT -Media in HIVOS arrived at RIC-NET on the 19th April aboard the RIC-NET so called "chopper". she met the staff of RIC-NET and visited some county information centres. At Kabarole information centre in fort portal municipality she was impressed by the centre set up.

The District Information Officer Kasese John.B.Thawite told the guests at the ceremony that the e-society is aimed at bringing the society of Kasese into a purview of electronic usage for poverty-reduction to improve their social economic, health, cultural and education status of the Kasese community.

‘The e-society will answer the issue of inadequate access to timely and relevant information, a key aspect that limits citizens’ effective participation in the planning and monitoring processes in the district’ Thawite added.

He said that the plan was in place to decentralize the resource centre services to counties, sub-counties and parishes in order to benefit more of the rural people.

Officiating at the ceremony the district chairman Rev. Canon Julius Kithaghenda underscored the need to empower the people with information that can help them to fight poverty.

He noted that without information sharing and giving to the people the fight against poverty would not succeed.

‘I tell you our people are derail and sometimes they vote for people they couldn’t vote for because they lack information’ Kithaghenda said.

He challenged Civil servants to be computer literate so that they can much with the technological developments in the world, proposing that computer-illiterate civil servants be sacked.

The Chief Administrative Officer Kasese Giles Kahika said that his office was drawing a plan of sustaining the e-society resource centre after the donors pulled out and assured the people that it would be maintained and serve the intended purpose.The function was attended among others by Ms Fieke Jansen a Programme officer ICT -Media in

The function comes on the heals of a seminar on knowledge sharing at development that was held at Kagote, Fort portal municipality a week before. In this seminar, farmers and expert shared information on exploring ways of making marketing mechanisms work for the poor. The e-society component opened in kasese and now being rolled in Kabarole District is key on making the information accessible to all stakeholders even market information to the poor people.

Chairperson LCV Kasese commissions the E-society resource centre

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“This is historical moment for Kasese District Local Government” these were the words of almost every speaker at the commissioning of the e-society resource centre at Rukoki District headquarter in Kasese District yesterday the 20^th April 20011.

The e-society is an online platform that has been created by Rwenzori Information centre network (RIC-NET) together with KALI, IWDP and GOOD Hope with support from IICD, HIVOs and Kasese district local government. It is hoped that the e-Society will answer the issue of inadequate access to timely and relevant information, a key aspect that limits citizen's effective participation in the planning and monitoring processes in the district.

While presenting his speech the outgoing chairperson LCV Kasese Rev.Canon Julius Kithaghenda said” if someone offers you a gift, you the receiver must do three things: one receive the gift, appreciate the gift and then use the gift to your benefit” he therefore called upon the people of Kasese district to use the e-society for their benefit since they had already received the facility, and they have appreciated.

Speaking at the same function, the representative from HIVOs Fieke Jansen thanked Kasese district local government for have accepted RIC-NET and RWECO their development partners operating in the area to initiate the e-society centre at the district, she also said as Hivos, they are also learning more from Kasese as per the operation of the e-society. More stories coming soon

RIC-NET IT Team Join RWECO Observers to disseminate their election monitoring report

Let us build our Uganda!
These were the words of the RDC Kabarole District during the dissemination of the election monitoring report presented by Rweco observers.The RDC said every society has its weakness but the best thing to ensure that all Ugandans commit themselves towards building this country. He further said there is great improvement in the way elections are being conducted in this country compared to those of the early 80's.

ric-net 2011

2010 RIC-NET with partners

Ric-net 2010 in pictures