Radio show fixes a road badly done as a result of corruption in Kasese District

A radio talkshow called “The Mirror” on Guide FM in Kasese district has helped fix Bwera – Mitimusanju Road in Kasese District. The road was impassable even after repair due to shoddy work. According to the moderator of the live talkshow Kahungu Thembo, the contractor had connived with the district engineer to approve a shoddy work in September, 2012. The live radio talkshow is broadcast every Friday of the week from 05 – 06pm.

“The issue of Bwera – Mitimusanju Road was always raised on the talkshow [The Mirror] through phone calls and SMS and we decided to take a radio debate there which forced the district leadership to sack the district engineer [James Atuhaire] and the road was re-done by the contractors at their own costs.” Said Kahungu Thembo of Guide FM.

This follows ToroDev training on broadcasting for accountability in November 2012 to help rural FM radio journalists improve participation on their accountability radio programs through the use of appropriate ICT tools like SMS and call-ins and other online tools like facebook and twitter to share and access information. The training also encouraged radio journalists to make follow-ups on service delivery issues raised by the local citizens and conduct more research to enable them hold factual and issue based discussions to improve accountability.

While assessing the impact of ToroDev interventions on broadcasting for accountability on 14^th March, 2013 at Guide FM in Kasese District Kahungu highlighted that as a result of the capacity building workshops conducted by ToroDev, Guide FM has improved broadcasting for accountability through more support to radio journalists conduct research and embraced the use of appropriate ICT tools to increased participation of the local communities in the radio discussions among others.

“It’s now a policy for radio journalists to always have scripts before going for any program. Guide FM is also conducting on-job training especially for interns and new staff. Management has also allocated UGX120,000 a month for journalists to conduct research and UGX30,000 for airtime coordination. The manager has also given a directive to every radio program to have a facebook page” Said Kahungu Thembo of Guide FM.

Kahungu however highlighted that although the radio has allocated some funds for conducting research and coordination to enable fruitful issue based discussions, the funds are not yet enough. The radio staff also faces intimidation from local politicians and civil servants for reporting issues of shoddy work and corruption. 

During the impact assessment visit, ToroDev staff also distributed copies of the Uganda Constitution, Local Government Act and the Access to Information Act to empower local FM radio journalists with the legal framework to help them in their discussions and information access especially from the local governments.