Meet Youngman committed to End Period shame. in Cherangany constituency.

By Mary Wangare Kigo.

The year 2020 is a year that many of you erased from your mind and never want to look back and remember what transpired in the twelve months, mostly because of the challenges that ensued due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of the challenges people become innovative and creative in ways aimed at keeping them above the waves of challenges that were being blown to them by the pandemic. The storms of 2020 included businesses collapse, economies lockdown, paralysis of institution of higher learning and lockdown of airspaces to remember but a few potholes of that year.

 In Kenya 2020 is the year that saw complete shutdown institutions of learning, resulting to thousands of students with task to figure out how they were going to cope with all the time at their disposal.

Daniel Kamau, a final year student at the Kenya Medical Training College, pursuing pharmaceutical Technology was among thousands of students who found themselves with a whole year at their disposal after the government of Kenya shut down all schools following the confirmation of the first case of Covid-19 in the country. 

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Like his peers Kamau retreated to the village, where he had to figure out how to spend his time. It was during this time that he came up with a brilliant idea of participating in social change activities to benefit young people in his home constituency, Cherangany.

He collaborated with his peer Alpha Chore and together they started a campaign which they dubbed ‘End Period Shame’ through the initiative they aimed at distributing sanitary pads to teenage girls to ensure that they experience dignity during menstruation.  To raise the funds, needed to carry out the campaign Kamau and chore mobilized funds through online campaigns where their friends and well-wishers contributed money towards the noble cause. They also approached local area leaders who also made their contributions in cash or handing over of the sanitary pads.

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  Former cherangany constituency Member of parliament Wesley Korir( Right) handing over sanitary pads to Daniel Kamau ( Center) and Alpha Chore (left)

The Duo’s area of focus was administrative wards within Cherangany constituency, specifically Makutano ward,  where both of them were born and raised.

‘’ I come from a humble background and my community had contributed a great deal towards who I am today, I always wondered how I will repay the people who have contributed so much to my growth’’ he noted.

‘’ I have always desired to give back to development agendas that will keep girls in schools, and I realized giving girls sanitary pads to end period shame will keep girl them  in school and also put a stop to instances where they look for money to buy pads and a result forced to engage in premarital sex ’’ he added.

 ‘’ women are the pillars of society and keeping girls in school to ensure they gain an education to secure the future will ensure that the foundation of a sound community is note compromised’’ said Kamau.

Milestone

Kamau says that since the beginning of the end period shame campaign they have reached out to more that 1,000 girls.

‘’ I am proud to note that through the campaign we have managed to distribute pads to more than a thousand girls. We have distributed pads through forums in churches and community gatherings’’ he explained.

In September 2019, a 14-year-old Kenyan girl killed herself after being shamed by her teacher for having her period. Her death prompted advocates to speak out against period-shaming and work to reduce stigma. 

Despite the efforts being put forward by Kamau and other advocates towards ending period shame more still needs to be done to ensure affordability and accessibility of sanitary pads to give dignity to girls during menstruation.

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  Happy beneficiaries celebrating during an event organized in Makutano ward.

Birth of a CBO

The more Kamau and Chore continued to engage in community development they realized the need to have a solid umbrella that they will use to implement future development initiatives hence the birth of a community-based organization-Draw Smile Kenya.

‘’ we do not intend to stop with End period shame but will carry out needs assessments in our community to see areas that we can still contribute towards. We also saw the need to have a recognized CBO where that will engage in the activities’’ he added.

‘’ Through the organization we intend to mobilize a group of youths who will start looking at their communities with keen eyes so as to see areas of development that they can contribute towards in small but tangible ways’’ he elaborated.    

Though Draw smile Kenya Kamau and chore have engaged in motivational speaking to high school students to encourage them through their own experience to pursue education relentlessly and to also caution them about vices like alcoholism and drug abuse which can derail them from concentrating in education. They also mobilize for donations from well wishers and visit children homes

Advice

Kamau calls on youths to give back to the community they live in because the future is now ‘’ youths should come out engage the society and make it a better place’’ he said.

By Mary Wangare Kigo.

The year 2020 is a year that many of you erased from your mind and never want to look back and remember what transpired in the twelve months, mostly because of the challenges that ensued due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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As a result of the challenges people become innovative and creative in ways aimed at keeping them above the waves of challenges that were being blown to them by the pandemic. The storms of 2020 included businesses collapse, economies lockdown, paralysis of institution of higher learning and lockdown of airspaces to remember but a few potholes of that year.

 In Kenya 2020 is the year that saw complete shutdown institutions of learning, resulting to thousands of students with task to figure out how they were going to cope with all the time at their disposal.

Daniel Kamau, a final year student at the Kenya Medical Training College, pursuing pharmaceutical Technology was among thousands of students who found themselves with a whole year at their disposal after the government of Kenya shut down all schools following the confirmation of the first case of Covid-19 in the country. 

Like his peers Kamau retreated to the village, where he had to figure out how to spend his time. It was during this time that he came up with a brilliant idea of participating in social change activities to benefit young people in his home constituency, Cherangany.

He collaborated with his peer Alpha Chore and together they started a campaign which they dubbed ‘End Period Shame’ through the initiative they aimed at distributing sanitary pads to teenage girls to ensure that they experience dignity during menstruation.  To raise the funds, needed to carry out the campaign Kamau and chore mobilized funds through online campaigns where their friends and well-wishers contributed money towards the noble cause. They also approached local area leaders who also made their contributions in cash or handing over of the sanitary pads.

The Duo’s area of focus was administrative wards within Cherangany constituency where both of them were born and raised.

‘’ I come from a humble background and my community had contributed a great deal towards who I am today, I always wondered how I will repay the people who have contributed so much to my growth’’ he noted.

‘’ I have always desired to give back to development agendas that will keep girls in schools, and I realized giving girls sanitary pads to end period shame will keep girl them  in school and also put a stop to instances where they look for money to buy pads and a result forced to engage in premarital sex ’’ he added.

 ‘’ women are the pillars of society and keeping girls in school to ensure they gain an education to secure the future will ensure that the foundation of a sound community is note compromised’’ said Kamau.

Milestone

Kamau says that since the beginning of the end period shame campaign they have reached out to more that 1,000 girls.

‘’ I am proud to note that through the campaign we have managed to distribute pads to more than a thousand girls. We have distributed pads through forums in churches and community gatherings’’ he explained.

In September 2019, a 14-year-old Kenyan girl killed herself after being shamed by her teacher for having her period. Her death prompted advocates to speak out against period-shaming and work to reduce stigma. 

Despite the efforts being put forward by Kamau and other advocates towards ending period shame more still needs to be done to ensure affordability and accessibility of sanitary pads to give dignity to girls during menstruation.

Birth of a CBO

The more Kamau and Chore continued to engage in community development they realized the need to have a solid umbrella that they will use to implement future development initiatives hence the birth of a community-based organization-Draw Smile Kenya.

‘’ we do not intend to stop with End period shame but will carry out needs assessments in our community to see areas that we can still contribute towards. We also saw the need to have a recognized CBO where that will engage in the activities’’ he added.

‘’ Through the organization we intend to mobilize a group of youths who will start looking at their communities with keen eyes so as to see areas of development that they can contribute towards in small but tangible ways’’ he elaborated.    

Though Draw smile Kenya Kamau and chore have engaged in motivational speaking to high school students to encourage them through their own experience to pursue education relentlessly and to also caution them about vices like alcoholism and drug abuse which can derail them from concentrating in education. They also mobilize for donations from well wishers and visit children homes

Advice Kamau calls on youths to give back to the community they live in because the future is now ‘’ youths

Olisam Foundation fights poverty using skills.

By Mary Wangare Kigo.

On the 12^th of August many countries across the world marked the international youth day, the day was celebrated under the theme “ Youth engagement for global action ‘’ the theme sought to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local and national level is influencing change. The youth have in the recent past been taking part in finding solutions for issues affecting their communities.

Olivia Irumba Katushabe, from eastern Uganda is among millions of youths from Africa acting in their small but tangible ways to help in the development of their communities.

Katushabe through her organization Olisam Foundation that she established together with her husband is equipping her community members with skills that help them to earn a living.  she trains her beneficiaries with skills in hair dressing, tailoring and art and craft designing.

Olivia Irumba Katushabe, founder of Olisam foundation.                           Photo credit: Olisam Foundation.

Birth of the Vision

Katushabe says her experience growing up motivated her to start the organization in order to ensure that women are self-reliant.

“ When my father was still alive he was the sole provider for the family and had opened a small business for my mum but when he died everything collapsed, our mother had no one to support her and she was thrown out of the shop she was renting’’ she revealed.

“ life become really hard for us and my siblings, but I could always remember that our mother had tailoring skills which she could not put into practice because our father was not in support’’ she elaborated.

“ Today if I look back I know we could have avoided a lot of suffering if my mother had put her tailoring skills to practice” she added.

Katushabe says that she is motivated to help widows, single mothers and young mothers gain skills that will help them support their families with or without the support of their spouses or family members.

‘’ I never want to see any mother go through the suffering that my mother had to endure all in the quest to provide for her family. It was a lot of struggle and pain to all of us. So if I can help someone to avoid such hardship, I will do all I can’’ she pointed.

She says that although her main target group is women, she also includes young men who are interested in her training to ensure that nobody is left behind.

“a skilled woman is able to take care of her family. We always prefer training the women in groups then after the training we help then set up their businesses like saloons and tailoring shops within their communities’’ she explained.

“we do not stop at training the women we also help in marketing different products made by our beneficiaries on the social media to increase the market base and am pleased to say the strategy has been very helpful’’ she added.

To be a good example to her trainees, Katushabe a trained journalist started the process by gaining the skill in hairdressing, tailoring and Art and craft making.

Girls sorting out pieces of fabric to use for the art and craft designs                                              Photo Credit: Olisam Foundation

 

The Journey

Katushabe says starting the project was not an easy task because it requires a lot of money which she says she did not have at that time but she believed strongly in the dream hence she did not give up.

“ to start this project I hard to sacrifice a lot but I thank God for my husband and other family members who believed in me and supported me every step of the way’’ she says

“I have had to conduct training’s from my living room because I did not have resources to hire training venues ‘’ she added.

But today I am grateful to friends who have contributed to the project since they saw that I am serious with the project.

Since the inception of the initiative, Katushabe says they have skilled about 300 beneficiaries cutting across girls, young mothers and widows but the active members who still implementing the projects are 50.

Katushabe notes that “we are proud to note that at the moment we can show 50 beneficiaries who are earning from the skills we trained them in and we keep monitoring and supporting them to ensure they flourish’’

Challenges

In the course of implement the project we have faced the challenge of limited funds in order to expand the project to a wider group because we want to impact as many people as we can.

We also need resources to procure equipment like tailoring machines for our beneficiaries so that they can put the skills to practice.

“we appeal for support from all well wishers to join us in the project by sponsoring beneficiaries or purchasing the tailoring machines or sending grants for the project’’ Katushabe appealed.

Another challenge that the Olisam foundation continues to face is the negative attitude towards the skills like tailoring and hair dressing. She says some people still look at such skills as those meant for academic failures.

Corona Virus pandemic has also affected the project because they have hard to halt the activities because the Uganda government is implementing a number of lockdown measures to curb the spread of the disease and has affected the organizations way of operation.

Success story

Olivia says since starting the initiative she has not only skilled other people but her self as well. The trained journalists revealed that she has learned the hairdressing, crafting and dress making so as to lead by example to the people she serving.

Finished products by olisam beneficiaries in the craft and design                                                        Photo Credit: Olisam Foundation

She says from the skill she is cashing in during the ongoing campaigns in Uganda by making facemasks to politicians who are distributing facemasks to citizens in large scale.

 Advice to change makers

Katushabe applauded all people taking a step to address the challenges facing their communities and encourages them to keep pursuing their vision even when the going gets tough.

To the new joiners she says

“you must have the passion for the project that you want to establish and always remember that community work is all about serving the community, never think that initiatives are money making ventures “ she added.

 

 

Meet Nyeri change agent giving all for her community

By Mary Wangare

It  is always a joy to give back to people , however it is even more rewarding when you give back to the community that natured you and can identify and share your aspirations and dreams.

Waithera Maruru, from Nyeri county is living the reality of giving back to her community through initiatives aimed at improving the education standards in her village.

Waithera , a trained journalist says the decision to help her community especially in the education sector did not come out naturally but it followed a series of embarrassing national examination results.

” In 2013  the ministry of education released results the national examination results and  being a journalist i was able to access the list of schools and while my fellow journalists were happy pointing out the schools they went to with pride, i was forced to lie because my school was amongst the worst performers ” she explained.

Following  that incident Waithera vowed never to be embarrassed by her background but rather do something to change the status quo.

” I made up my mind that i have to do better for my community rather than hide and shy away from the reality” she added.

In 2014 she decided to volunteer at the school as a teacher as her way of trying to resolve the poor performance in here primary school.

” I decided to volunteer as a teacher at Ngaini primary school because i wanted to learn firsthand what the problem was and how we as a community can begin to play our part in improving the situation in our school” she narrated.

” I wanted to know why is my school posting very poor result” she added.  Waithera understood that to address the issues in her community she need to work with other people because it will take immense resources to change things for the better.

” while working at the school realized i need money and other resource for the work at hand, so what i did was to mobilize the school alumni so we can put out heads together ” said Waithera.

she says since the school alumni started working together to improve the performance at the school. They have registered tremendous progress since the results are improving.  Through the alumni we have been able to organize mentoring seminars at the school and showed the pupils that they can aspire for much more. We have also supported the children with revision material hence improving the academic performance.

” Our school has now managed to take its pupils to some best national schools in the country like Alliance girls high school, Nyeri boys high school and Gadu girls among others and we are absolutely proud” noted waithera.

For  Waithera the passion to change the community does not stop with education. during this Covid- 19 pandemic she has also collaborated with other well wishers and she has been able to play her part in alleviating the impact of Covid 19 among the people especially the less fortunate.

” During this pandemic that is affect  the world and Kenya in particular, mobilized well wishers and pulled together resources. we visited Majego slum in Nyeri county and distributed tippy taps to help in hand washing, we also distributed food to households” she pointed out.

” we also helped some families start kitchen gardens, where we helped kids who at home since schools are closed set up sack gardens where they can plant veggies like Kales ” she added

she also noted that they have managed to distribute revision material to class eight candidates to enable them continue with revision even as schools remain closed due to the ongoing corona virus pandemic.

” I am so happy to note that together with other well wishers we have developed a revision booklet that we have distributed to a total of 3700 candidates in Nyeri county” she pointed

Political Aspirations

Following years of community activism Waithera says time to make even bigger impact has come. she says come 2022 general elections she will vie for the Nyeri county Woman representative seat.

” after years of volunteering and social activism i have come to the realization that some of the community problems that we face can be addressed through enactment of laws that spur development in different sectors” she noted.

” I want to leave a mark by helping to formulate laws that will promote education, agriculture and gender equity among other issues that i am passionate about. The best way to do that is by getting elected into parliament” waithera explained.

 she tells fellow youths to envision the society they want to live in and then take positive action towards the realization of that world.

”nothing will change until you change it, be the change you want to see in the world”  she pointed.

A Nakuru Change Maker Mentoring Kenyan youths on Purposeful living.

By Mary Wangare Kigo

Peter Kariuki co-founder Glidde enterprise

Kenya is a country on the move, moving towards implementing the Building Bridges Initiative , preparation for the 2022 general elections, on the move to combat  the swarms of locust that are eating up the vegetation in more than 18 counties and also to reclaim the devastated Mau forest its pivotal water catchment among other issues facing our nation.

while the political class is busy with the above mentioned issued, there are also individual young Kenyans taking bold steps to contribute to the process of nation building in simple ways applicable to their communities.

Peter Kariuki Mbuthia ,35, from Nakuru county is such a youths taking action to help transform the nation. Kariuki a Young African leadership Initiative (YALI) fellowship recipient in 2018 says his desire to give back to community was sparked in a more proactive way after completing the one month leadership course.

” i have always wanted to give back to the community but always wonder on how and  what to do, but during the YALI fellowship my desire was more amplified and i knew the time had come for me to stop wishing and actually take action” he said.

Courtesy Photo: Kariuki addressing pupils at a school in Nakuru during a mentor-ship event

After YALI Kariuki energized and motivated to the maximum partnered with Violet Kamau,22, to establish Glidde Enterprise with the vision of becoming one of the leading leadership consultancy firms in  Africa.

The father of one now dedicates his time in helping the youth in his county to live purposefully by mentoring them through trainings, team building events and holding holiday boot camps to impact the youth with positive information that will help  mold them into responsible Kenyans as well as global citizens.

Through his organization Kariuki says that he is happy to be contributing to the growth and development of Nakuru county and Kenya at large.

” after holding events like boot camps for the youth , mentoring and also participating in tree planting or clean up campaigns i get so much joy and satisfaction that cannot be explained” he added.

Since starting Glidde enterprise in 2018, Kariuki says he has so far organized three events  that he says have given him the impetus to keep moving forward.

The events include purposeful parenting, a six lessons parenting program helping young parents on responsible parenthood amidst influence  from social media and other external forces facing parents today.

Another event under his belt is a purpose boot Camp, a three days camp for teens training them on purposeful living and being principled leaders.

He has also organized the KENYA NI MIMI campaign  aimed at sensitizing the citizenry on their role and duties as citizens towards making Kenya a better place.

Kariuki says he has received positive response from the community encouraging him to continue with the journey he started.

” people really like  the idea of living deliberately , such that everything you do is towards a purpose. I have seen young people change and become so serious about life  to the point that i am currently working with two youths i mentored” Kariuki explained.

 

Courtesy Photo: Violet Kamau and Peter Kariuki co-founders of Glidde enterprise during a school event in Nakuru

 Environment conservation.

Other  than mentoring the youth Kariuki is also keen in matters environment conservation, he is championing the cause by involving primary and secondary school going children.

In a recent environment conservation activity in the area, Kariuki planted over 500 trees with the help of pupils from flamingo primary school.

” In the exercise i tasked the kids to plant a tree and take care of it by watering regularly and ensure it was not eaten by animals or uprooted by children. we later returned to the area to access the work the pupils were doing and we loved the result. we rewarded those  who had taken good care of trees.

Courtesy Photo: Violet Kamau posing with girls after donating sanitary pads to school going girls in Nakuru.

counsel  to Kenyan youths

The kenyan youth continue to face a lot of challenges ranging from drug abuse, unemployment and high cost of living others among others.

Amidst all these Kariuki says the youth can rise above the current status quo and offer something to the communities.

He says ” There are no enough white collar jobs, even technical jobs will soon be overcrowded, not everyone will be a farmer neither can everybody be an entrepreneur But everyone has something inside of them that the rest of us need. while there are no opportunities to get in there are plenty of opportunities to serve”.

 Challenges

Kariuki says since he started pursuing social change the main challenge he has faced is lack of resource to organize the events to the standard he needs. He however says he will continue using the meager resource at his disposal until organizations like county government, funding agents and other well wishers join him in his pursuit of seeing the Kenya he desires to live in where youths are purposeful and citizens are responsible for giving back to their country.

Courtesy photo Glidde Enterprise

Future plans

In the near future we are looking at partnering with Nakuru Rehabilitation home, we intend to be visiting the centre  every last saturday of the month to inspire and give hope to the children incarcerated there. we will also be launching a leadership clubs for secondary schools, through the forum we will teach students about leadership qualities and problem solving skills. The pilot  club will be launched at Khalsa Secondary school in Nakuru.

 

Empowering girls by all means

Jane Maina

By Mary Kigo

Africa is experiencing development growth in the recent years, some of that growth has been brought about by ordinary people taking small but tangible steps to address the challenges faced by the communities they live in.

In 2015, Jane Maina, aged 27, was involved in a project that tickled her into taking action towards resolving community problems in her home county of Trans-Nzoia. She was tasked with the duty of implementing the Love Binti project run by Step30 initiative.

The Love binti project aimed at addressing the lack of sanitary  towels  among school going girls and stay at home mothers in Trans-nzoia county by empowering them with skills to make sanitary towels using locally available material like pieces of old cloths.

At the helm of implementing the project Maina organized community sensitization meetings with over 2,000 girls and equipped them with skills to hand make sanitary pads.  During the process she realized that the challenge facing some girls was not only the lack of sanitary pads but also they did not have underwear’s to change during the messes.

‘’ during the meetings some girls come to me saying that it was a good thing that we were training them how to make sanitary pads but they did not have enough panties to use during the menstruation cycle’’ she noted.

‘’ after getting similar reports from various girls I decided to do something. I started the underwear campaign with the aim of giving girls at least four underwear’s alongside the washable sanitary pads’’

Maina says the first batch of underwear she distributed to the girls she identified was from her salary and later she decided to create awareness pages for the underwear campaigns on different social media platforms like Whats app and Facebook and the response was overwhelming.

‘’ I am grateful to all the people who have supported me in the campaign and together we have given over 1000 girls underwear’s and I am confident we are improving their lives’’ she said

Maina advises people who like to address problems in their communities to start with what they have and other will see their work and will join in the initiative’’ she added.

‘’ just help that one girl before moving to others, I believe that if we all took steps address the challenges we face in our communities in small ways we can change a lot of things’’ said Maina.

Recent studies by the ministry of education revealed that girls from poor families miss 20%  school days in a year due to lack sanitary towels.

Involve Formers Heads of state to resolve regional conflicts-Museveni

photo by PPU

By Mary Kigo.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has called involvement of former heads of states in resolving regional conflicts.

Speaking at a meeting with United Nations Deputy Secretary General, JAN Eliasson, at the sidelines of an Inter-governmental Authority on Development meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia museveni noted that in case of armed conflicts it is important to involve neutral and mutually agreeable formers heads of state who would ensure proper follow up of the resolutions to end the conflicts.

“The Problem is that coordination is not done. We are not following up properly. For armed conflicts, we should have former heads of State involved. In Burundi we survived because we had former President Julius Nyerere and President Mandela involved,” he said.

He further noted there is need for stronger coordination mechanisms at the highest international level possible in finding a solution to regional conflicts saying this is paramount.

The two leaders discussed a range of issues particularly the security situation in Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The President warned against sectarian tendencies emphasizing that countries need to understand that they need prosperity and security first and foremost and that clan systems and sectarian tendencies based on tribes, religion cannot guarantee this.

Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson thanked President Museveni for his devotion and his time in ensuring that a solution is found for conflicts in the region and pledged the UN support in implementation.

Museveni  is in Ethiopia for an IGAD led peace process on South Sudan meeting that saw several heads of state including Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia, and Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan in intense closed door consultations to ensure a deal is reached before the IGAD set August 17 deadline.

Road to 2016: Journalists manifesto launched

By Mary Kigo.

The minister for information and national guidance, Jim Muhwezi has asked journalists to be professional while reporting ahead of the next year’s general election.

Speaking at a regional conference on media freedom and freedom of expression organized by the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Media, minister Muhwezi noted that the government is taking keen interest on efforts towards the development of journalism in the country.

He noted that a robust parliament and media fraternity are key towards promoting democracy in Uganda and the East African region at large.

Muhwezi said it is encouraging to not that regional parliaments are working towards having responsible media in their respective countries.

He said amid calls to have media freedom in the country there is need to have trained journalists in order to safeguard the freedom.

“ I know that there are many journalist in key positions but they are not trained and certified, this needs to change so that by the time a person starts to practice as a journalist they are fully equipped with skills’’ he said.

The minister also launched the Journalists manifesto 2016, detailing guidelines that will inform reporting during next years’ general elections.

According to the manifesto journalist will be required to verify information gathered before it is broadcast to ensure that members of the public get accurate information.

Media houses will also be required to verify authenticity of opinion polls before the elections in order to avoid falling prey to Shum polls that might put the country at risk. Journalists will also be required to desist from creating independent tally centers and commit to publize only results released by the electoral commission.

While presenting a paper on media freedom at the event, senior journalist Joshua Kyalimpa noted that it is high time that people stopped looking at issues of media freedom as a monopoly of journalists in the country.

He said unless the country gets media freedom achieving development targets like the vision 2040 will be impossible.

“Media should be looked at as an important vehicle for development to take Uganda to the level that we all desire’’ he noted.

Unaccounted for funds in Greater Masaka region

Greater Masaka districts were also pointed as those that did not account for funds in the just released Auditor general report.

Alebtong district continues to loose funds

From the range of the selected districts from the 2013/2014 auditor generals report a number of districts had outstanding administrative advances.

Abim district administration topped the list with an out standing advance of 233.7 million shillings was followed by Alebtong with a total of 17.4 million shillings. Alebtong town council did not perform well either posting an outstanding advance of 14.6 million shillings.

Agago town council also featured in the list with an advance of 10.8 million shillings while Abim town council was a rather better performer posting an outstanding advance of 7 million shillings

From these selected ditrict with huge outstanding advances is a clear indicator that more needs to be done towards improving financial accountability of all local governmnets in the country. Short of living to this expectation efforts to have services decentralized to the grass root will remain futile.