Dear all, I read the submission below with so much interest and indeed believe that there is a genuine and significant role the foundation is going to play. I see that we have communicated very well on issues and I also see that many of you here are experts on the issues being raised. I now wish to propose a way forward that your team may adopt so as to get on the ground it is called putting pen to paper and paper to action.
We all know that most of the issues raised are issues local governments are mandated to solve, we also know that due to their limited resources civil society organizations have come in to compliment them in solving problems of society. Now for the West Nile foundation to get going it has to appreciate and work with these stakeholders usually on the ground. The question is how do you do this? >From our discussions and extracts of the submissions of the president and Mr. Oguzua among others a paper may be developed showing the current situation. This paper can form the basis for discussions with stakeholders (round table meeting with local governments, NGO's and private sector representatives). The discussions will lead to development of an action plan that the foundation can spearhead and get moving with the blessings of key stakeholders. I therefore see the process starting with a summary of discussions, set up of meeting date and fund raising, meeting, action then of course monitoring and evaluation. This action plan is one that the proposed coordinator can then implement. I can assist here and there (including assisting the recruited person build capacity in some areas) but we would need some one to do the documentation. On another note - Sometime back I mentioned the value of Media/Public & national & International Relations to portray a good image of Arua & West Nile in general, Mr. Alaka and team thank you for starting this good work recently with the home coming of Asiku! We need to continue to make our region attractive may be even a preferred business/tourist destination. Best regards Richard On Wed, 2010-01-27 at 18:42 -0500, Vasco Oguzua wrote: > Fellow Distinguished Brothers and Sisters on this Forum, > > I would like to thank Mr. Sebastian Owilla for a good point of > information in re-informing this forum of the important debate the > President of West Nile Foundation requested about activities of the > Foundation. I know Mr. John Avudria has been persistently > mentioning this issue in the past few weeks, but we have not been > able to initiate any discussions or deliberations on the > administration or coordination and/or activities of the Foundation. > Thank you Mr. Rogers Anguzu for re-posting the President's submission > which I actually had never seen before. Infact I have not seen the > minutes of the last meeting which probably was also posted, but > slipped off my attention somewhere when I was probably not a away for > sometime. > > >From the Presidents submission, there are quite a list of issues we > as forum subscribers are faced with with respect to the development of > our region, West Nile. They are many and almost all of them are > equally important when one sits to think about them. According to the > President, there are almost 220 subscribers to the forum to discuss > the development issues of West Nile. I would like to believe that > these 220 people have made a serious decision to subscribe to the > debate and discussions to move our region to a different level of > development as opposed to what it is at this present time. However, we > should not be naive to believe that all these subscribers have the > same agenda in their subscription to the forum. In our discussion > and/or deliberations for the development of the region we are bound to > ridicule and antagonize each other and the government wherever > appropriate. However, we shall have have to bear in mind that vigorous > intellectual debate should be encouraged without fear and favour but > in the interest of finding a solution to the problem(s) at hand. We > shall definitely identify and isolate subscribers who may have > sinister objectives and other agenda with regard to the development of > our region. > > First I would like to suggest that since the foundation is has no > funds as it has just been initiated, we should all agree to pay the > annual sh.50,000.00/- as suggested. [Assuming all the 220 subscribers > paid up, we shall have (220 X 50,000.00) = 11,000,000.00 (11 million) > which I believe is a reasonable starting funds for the Foundation]. I > will begin by pledging my membership - please treasurer write me in > and I will pay sh.100,000.00/- for my membership by this weekend. I > think we should should start from this point of paying membership > fee so that the foundation has some operational funds. > > Secondly, I would like to suggest the foundation should follow up > with the Education Task Force deliberations and the Hunger Project we > already started since last year. > As for the education project, we saw a report sometime last year, a > submission of which I believe was only associated with schools in > Yumbe district. Much as we may have similar problems with schools in > the whole of West Nile, I think we need to find out what happened to > the reports from other districts? Although the president's submission > had a plan to have 150 PhD holders and 200 Master degree holders in > west Nile, I would like to say that I think the problems with > Kindergarden (Pre-Primary), Primary and Secondary school level are the > most important the foundation should address. If the early foundations > are not properly laid, we are bound to have problems in achieving > those targets for the higher learning. We have all seen how in the > past 20 or so years the levels of Primary and Secondary education has > deteriorated in our region. My suggestion would be for the foundation > to establish or support at least two or three Primary and Secondary > schools in each of the districts in West Nile. These schools should > become model schools from which the highest academic standards are > expected, enforced, with excellent school infrastructure provided and > qualified and well motivated teachers recruited. While higher > education (PhDs and Masters Degrees) is a good bar we have set, it is > imperative to note that our expectation in the kind of education we > should think is should be linked to many improvements in quality of > life, such as increased employment opportunities, lowered fertility > rates, more productive farming, better nutrition, empowerment of > women, reduction of maternal and child mortality, improved hygiene, > and lower incidence of diseases. > > The Hunger project should continue, and more seeds needs to be > procured and distributed to the people in need and perhaps the program > can be modified to agricultural self help projects with the focus on > food security. > > Thirdly, the Foundation should be at the centre of finding ways to > provide energy for our region. We all know that one of the problems we > face in West Nile is lack of stable energy supply for almost any > possible development activity. If we want to attract foreign > investments or even local investments, we shall need to have a stable > and adequate source and supply of energy. > > Fourthly, we have a major catastrophe awaiting if we do not address > the water supply issues in the whole of West Nile. Sometime back I > mentioned that we have to brace ourselves for a serious fight for > source of water to supply the much needed water in West Nile. Although > we have the River Nile flowing within our reach, Sudan and Egypt > which entirely depend on the Nile will not make it easy for us to tap > some of the water from the NILE. In which case we need to begin > planning for conservation of the Borehole water which we mostly depend > on. This requires us to think of better ways to harness our limited > groundwater resources. With vagary of climatic uncertainties we should > not be complacent that we shall have enough quantity of quality water > for our daily use. Other than the daily domestic use of water, if we > are to aspire for industries in our region we shall need sufficient > water supply. We therefore need to think of planning and implementing > water conservation as soon as possible. > > Fifth, we need the Foundation to plan for the reconstruction or > advocate for reconstruction of Arua Airfield as an International > Airport as in the initial plan in the 1970's. I believe with the > improvement of Arua Airfield to an international airport, we shall > create businesses which will will translate into jobs. Movement of > good and people through Arua will have a tremendous economic impact in > our region. Goods and people travelling to Equatorial region of Congo > and Southern Sudan will create a huge market with down fall of other > businesses being created in our region. Suffice to say, good > infrastructure is important; it is the bedrock of economic growth. > Good leaders understand its importance; great leaders ensure that it > is built. > > Sixth, the issue of following up with matters affecting our people. In > this particular case, I would like to suggest the issue of Tobacco > farmers not being paid up to two years since they sold their had > earned produce breaks my heart. I was able to experience the agony of > these farmers who have worked so hard. These people have on numerous > occasions gone to the centres to claim their money but many at times > in vain. BAT does not even appreciate the efforts of these farmers. > These farmers are left to feel like beggars begging for some free > money from BAT when these people are demanding their hard earned > money. Some of the people pay their children's school fees with that > money and some of the kids may not attend or go to school because BAT > has not paid their parents. I think it is high time we need to > demonstrate to BAT that we shall not allow our people being > treated like beggars any more when these people are demanding for > their rightful wages. > > There are many issues to tackle but I will stop here for now. > Back to you Forum members, what do you say? > > I thank you all, > > Vasco Oguzua > > > > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > Tell the whole story with photos, right from your Messenger window. > Learn how! > _______________________________________________ > WestNileNet mailing list > [email protected] > http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet > % WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > > The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). 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