Holding Ugandan Police to Account:Case study of the Police Accountability and Reform Project

This chapter presents the research findings of a case study of an accountability project implemented with the Uganda Police Force between 2010 and 2013. The project set up a series of workshops involving the police and a variety of societal actors, and organized activities to create awareness of changes to the public order management regime. The impact of the accountability project was assessed by comparing feedback from police districts where the project was implemented with that from districts that did not take part. Analysis of crime statistics does not show a difference between the two groups of districts. A survey conducted among 600 police officers demonstrates that the project has influenced the way in which they respond to integrity issues in their day-to-day work. Interviews with 23 middle- and high-ranking police officers show an enhanced awareness of accountability issues related to the treatment of civilians and their rights. Although the project is not a sufficient condition for behavioural change, it may lead to changes in attitudes, which are a necessary condition for changes in the behaviour of the police toward the public

Improving police integrity in Uganda: Impact assessment of the police accountability and reform project

Uganda and in particular the Ugandan police are perceived as highly corrupt. To address the integrity of police officers, an intervention called the Police Accountability and Reform Project (PARP) was implemented in selected police districts between 2010 and early 2013. This paper studies the impact of PARP for a sample of 600 police officers who were interviewed about police integrity by means of 12 hypothetical vignette cases depicting context-specific, undesirable behavior of varying degrees of severity. The assessments of the cases by the police officers are analyzed using propensity score matching, inverse probability weighting, and seemingly unrelated regression techniques. We show that the self-selection of police officers into the program is unlikely to drive the results. The results suggest that officers participating in PARP activities (1) judge the presented cases of misconduct more severely, (2) are more inclined to report misconduct, and (3) also expect their colleagues to judge misbehavior at the police level more critically although the latter two coefficient estimates are smaller in size. This suggests that PARP activities have affected the perception of police officers but only encouraged them moderately to actually take action against bad practices

Profiling unauthorized natural resource users for better targeting of conservation interventions

Unauthorized use of natural resources is a key threat to many protected areas. Approaches to reducing this threat include law enforcement and integrated conservation and development (ICD) projects, but for such ICDs to be targeted effectively, it is important to understand who is illegally using which natural resources and why. The nature of unauthorized behavior makes it difficult to ascertain this information through direct questioning. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, has many ICD projects, including authorizing some local people to use certain nontimber forest resources from the park. However, despite over 25 years of ICD, unauthorized resource use continues. We used household surveys, indirect questioning (unmatched count technique), and focus group discussions to generate profiles of authorized and unauthorized resource users and to explore motivations for unauthorized activity. Overall, unauthorized resource use was most common among people from poor households who lived closest to the park boundary and farthest from roads and trading centers. Other motivations for unauthorized resource use included crop raiding by wild animals, inequity of revenue sharing, and lack of employment, factors that created resentment among the poorest communities. In some communities, benefits obtained from ICD were reported to be the greatest deterrents against unauthorized activity, although law enforcement ranked highest overall. Despite the sensitive nature of exploring unauthorized resource use, management‐relevant insights into the profiles and motivations of unauthorized resource users can be gained from a combination of survey techniques, as adopted here. To reduce unauthorized activity at Bwindi, we suggest ICD benefit the poorest people living in remote areas and near the park boundary by providing affordable alternative sources of forest products and addressing crop raiding. To prevent resentment from driving further unauthorized activity, ICDs should be managed transparently and equitably

Potential for yield loss reduction and profitability assessment of pesticide control of groundnut leaf miner among soybean genotypes

Groundnut leaf miner (GLM) is currently a threat to soybean production in Uganda due to the great yield losses as a result of the severe damage it causes on leaves leading to reduced photosynthetic area. GLM is a fairly new pest on soybean in Uganda, having initially been observed in soybean fields in 2011 in eastern Uganda. The objective of this study was to determine the yield loss caused by the groundnut leaf miner and effectiveness and profitability of commonly used pesticides for the control of the groundnut leaf miner ( Aproaerema modicella Deventer) (GLM), when tested with popular soybean ( Glycine max ) genotypes grown in Uganda. In a split plot RCBD design, pesticide protection (treated vs. untreated) formed the main plots; and six commercial soybean varieties (Maksoy 1N, 2N, 3N, 4N, 5N; and Namsoy 4M) as subplots. The study was done in two locations in eastern Uganda (Iki Iki District Agricultural Training and Information Centre (Iki Iki DATIC) and National Semi-Arid Resources Research Institute, Serere (NaSARRI) with two planting rounds at Iki Iki. These sites were chosen because they are hot spots for GLM. GLM severity and soybean yield were significantly affected by the pesticide protection. Overall, percentage grain yield losses caused by GLM on the different soybean varieties ranged from 37.3% to 65.7% and the highest loss was displayed by Maksoy 5N. Grain yield loss recorded at Iki Iki DATIC (53.1%) was remarkably higher than that recorded at the NaSARRI (49.1%). Economic analysis showed marginal returns to be dependent on location, with the Iki Iki DATIC having 0.6 and NaSARRI 1.1. This study has shown that the groundnut leaf miner, a recently emergent pest of soybean is becoming a big threat to soybean production and that chemical control alone may not be economical in managing the pest.La mineuse de feuilles d\u2019arachide (MFA) constitue actuellement une menace pour la production de soja en Ouganda en raison des pertes de rendement consid\ue9rables dues aux d\ue9g\ue2ts importants caus\ue9s aux feuilles, ce qui a entra\ueen\ue9 une r\ue9duction de la surface photosynth\ue9tique. Le MFA est un ravageur relativement nouveau sur le soja en Ouganda. Il avait d\u2019abord \ue9t\ue9 observ\ue9 dans des champs de soja en 2011 dans l\u2019est de l\u2019Ouganda. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait de d\ue9terminer la perte de rendement caus\ue9e par la mineuse de feuilles d\u2019arachide et l\u2019efficacit\ue9 et la rentabilit\ue9 des pesticides couramment utilis\ue9s pour lutter contre la mineuse de feuilles d\u2019arachide ( Aproaerema modicella Deventer) (MFA), lorsqu\u2019il \ue9tait test\ue9 avec du soja tr\ue8s r\ue9pandu ( Glycine max ) g\ue9notypes cultiv\ue9s en Ouganda. L\u2019essai a \ue9t\ue9 install\ue9 suivant un dispositif split plot en parcelles divis\ue9es, la protection antiparasitaire (trait\ue9e ou non trait\ue9e) constituait les parcelles principales; et six vari\ue9t\ue9s commerciales de soja (Maksoy 1N, 2N, 3N, 4N, 5N; et Namsoy 4M) en sous-parcelles. L\u2019\ue9tude a \ue9t\ue9 r\ue9alis\ue9e dans deux regions de l\u2019est de l\u2019Ouganda (Centre de formation et d\u2019information agricoles du district d\u2019Iki Iki (Iki Iki DATIC) et Institut national de recherche sur les ressources semi-arides de Serere (NaSARRI), avec deux fois de plantation \ue0 Iki Iki. Ces sites ont \ue9t\ue9 choisis parceque ce sont des regions tr\ue8s menaces par MFA. La protection contre les pesticides a eu un effet important sur la s\ue9v\ue9rit\ue9 du MFA et le rendement du soja. Generalement, le pourcentage de pertes de rendement en grain caus\ue9es par la sur les diff\ue9rentes vari\ue9t\ue9s de soja variait de 37,3% \ue0 65,7% et la perte la plus \ue9lev\ue9e a \ue9t\ue9 montr\ue9e par Maksoy 5N. La perte de rendement en grains trouv\ue9e \ue0 Iki Iki DATIC (53,1%) \ue9tait remarquablement sup\ue9rieure \ue0 celle trouv\ue9e \ue0 NaSARRI (49,1%). L\u2019analyse \ue9conomique a montr\ue9 que les rendements marginaux d\ue9pendaient de la localisation, l\u2019Iki Iki DATIC \ue9tant \ue0 0,6 et NaSARRI \ue0 1,1. Une \ue9tude a montr\ue9 que la mineuse de feuilles d\u2019arachide, un ravageur du soja r\ue9cemment apparu, constituait une menace majeure pour la production de soja et que la lutte chimique \ue0 elle seule pouvait ne pas \ueatre rentable pour lutter contre ce ravageur

The experience of “medicine companions” to support adherence to antiretroviral therapy: quantitative and qualitative data from a trial population in Uganda

Good adherence is critical for antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa. We report on the characteristics of medicine companions (MCs) chosen by Ugandan patients enrolling on ART, and on how MCs were chosen, and what roles they played. Baseline data on MCs of 1453 participants in a randomized controlled trial comparing facility and home-based delivery of ART in Jinja, Uganda were analyzed. Textual data on experience with MCs were collected through in-depth interviews among a subsample of 40 trial participants equally divided by sex and trial arm. Significantly more women (71%) than men (29%) were recruited. The majority (75%) of women participants were either widowed (51%) or separated or divorced (24%), whereas most of the men (66%) were married. Women were most likely to choose a child as their MC while men were most likely to choose their spouse; 41% of women chose an MC under 21 compared with only 14% of men. Only 31% of married women chose their husband, compared with 66% of married men who chose their wife. Qualitative interviews suggested MCs proved useful for reminding and other supportive tasks in the first three months but were generally less essential by six months and beyond. Convenience, reliability, and trust were key considerations in choosing an MC. Children provided the only alternative for many unmarried women, but even some married women felt children made more reliable MCs than husbands. Participants who had disclosed their serostatus usually received drug-taking reminders from multiple household members. One participant in the qualitative sample with poor family relations delayed starting treatment due to unwillingness to identify an MC. MCs were generally welcome and useful in supporting early adherence. However, disclosure to an MC should not be a condition of obtaining treatment