Issue 01 | June 2020

Dear Friends and Partners,

Warm greetings from the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE).

It is with great pleasure that we take this opportunity to wellcome you to the first issue of our Monthly Local Governance Policy Briefer. Through this Local Governance Policy Briefer ACODE seeks to contribute to deepen democractic decentralization in Uganda by strengthening Local Governments to provide efficient service delivery and political accountability to citizens. As a think tank, ACODE through this policy briefer will continue to generate alternative policy ideas to policy makers as well as triggering policy debates that contribute to effective implementation of the Decentralization Policy across Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Local Governments to ensure that public policies work for the people.

This maiden issue of the Local Governance Policy Briefer comes at a time when Uganda, like most of the world, is under lockdown due to COVID-19 crisis. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Around the world, the pandemic is posing severe challenges to health and governance systems, local and global economies, and to society as a whole. The policy response to this crisis requires adaption to this specific environment, posing a challenge to policy-makers (Baldwin and Weder di Mauro 2020a, 2020b). This issue is intended to contribute to efforts by the Government at different levels more especially at local government level to manage the spread of COVID-19 and continue to offer efficient service delivery to the population.

The research team will continue to generate well researched and targeted articles in support of the national efforts in containing COVID-19 and similar epidemics or pandemics. Our approach is to use research and the information available to directly or indirectly influence policy decisions both at national and sub-national levels. We are following the developments and shall continuously share more content through this Briefer periodically.

Once again, I take this opportunity to present to our esteemed policy and research community, development partners and all stakeholders our first Issue of the Local Governance Policy Briefer with a major focus on contemporary issues arising from COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Arthur Bainomugisha, Executive Director.

In This Issue

Local governments at the forefront of containing COVID-19 pandemic

Written By Jonas Mbabazi

The effects of COVID-19 have massively been debilitating to many countries like USA, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, China, UK, Iran, Turkey and many others that have registered thousands of COVID-19 cases and deaths. In Uganda, Local Governments are the first line of connection to the communities. In this period of coronavirus pandemic, they have been mandated to enforce government guidelines in regards to preventing the spread. In a statement issued by the Minister of Local Government on April 4, 2020, Council meetings at district level were suspended and local governments were ordered to only operate with essential staff and have others work from home. Read full article here

Forward

Indispensability of Local Governments in Responding to Covid-19

Written By Dr Wilson Winstons Muhwezi
Globally, Covid-19 emergence response is multi-sectorial to enable a holistic solution to the concomitant challenges. District councils, a creation of the Local Government Act are mandated to oversee health services. Other than frontline health workers, each district has a community-based services department with officers’ in-charge of probation and social welfare, social rehabilitation, children and youth affairs, gender, disability and elderly, culture, labour and many others. Since the mandate of personnel in this department is to operate in communities, these should be enlisted to respond and manage the community-component of Covid-19.
Read full article here

Forward

Post COVID-19: Role of local governments in promotion of primary health care in Uganda

Written By Oscord Mark Otile
In Uganda the mandate for implementation of primary health care lies with the Ministry of Local Government which is charged with the responsibility to create systems, guide, supervise and ensure that there is a sustainable delivery of health services in local governments (LGs). The Ministry of Health has done well especially with regard to building health infrastructure up to the parish level.
Read full article here

Forward

Covid-19: We need to extend social discipline to manage preventable diseases

Written By Walter Akena
While we appear to be on course to subdue the virus as a country, we must not forget that there are other preventable diseases like malaria, diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid and malnutrition that need the same social discipline we have exhibited over the last three weeks. Our imminent victory against COVID-19 should teach us one thing; health is very much a personal initiative. With social discipline, we can avert most of the diseases that cause 80 per cent of mortalities in the countryside.
Read full article here

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Government should pick lessons from COVID-19 crisis to improve health systems

Written By Fred Kasalirwe
In almost all President Museveni's televised addresses on COVID-19 crisis, he has been consistently calling out for public contributions towards district vehicles to support the district level task forces. This reflects one of the gaps that need to be closed in the health system’s infrastructure among other health system core indicators. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the weaknesses in Uganda’s health system. The country lacks sufficient equipment and other medical supplies to keep health facilities ready to receive the patients and achieve the minimum service standards even beyond the COVID19 pandemic. Medical workers in hospitals that were taking care of the confirmed Coronavirus cases lacked Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) making them vulnerable to the virus. Read full article here

Forward

Boost health facilities to deal with future epidemics

Written By Rebecca Nalwoga-Mukwaya
Presently in Uganda, regional referral hospitals are charged with isolating identified cases and taking samples and refereeing them to UVRI and just last month the government set up isolation centres in 17 Entebbe and Kampala. If the local governments are to be instrumental in combating pandemics and epidemics in the future there is need to boost the health facilities in local governments especially HCIVs and General Hospitals. Read full article here

Forward

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