Concept Note on Empowering Butaleja Residents Politically, Economically and Academically Prepared by James Wire Lunghabo Background &

Problem statement Butaleja district is one of the numerous districts located in Eastern Uganda. The Banyole Tribe are its main inhabitants. For long, the residents have been facing a number of challenges that are crosscutting and some of them that are profound include; 1. The poor transport infrastructure 2. The never ending floods 3. Poor Academic services 4. Illiteracy 5. Entrenched beliefs in Witchcraft 6. Poor local economy 7. Lack of effective leaders Following the steady stream of Banyole from their homeland to other parts of the country and the world in the past four decades, a community of Banyole Diaspora is being formed. This community happens to have well educated, economically sound and socially connected sons of the soil. Meanwhile back home, the situation has largely remained unchanged over this same period of time. Many Banyole are still trapped in peasantry lifestyles and can hardly sustain their very existence. The aforementioned challenges are their daily bread and butter. Some individuals and groups have occasionally tried to address some of these challenges in the past while others still do. However, not much progress had been made. A lot of knowledge is resident in the minds of the various elite Banyole that have had the exposure and chance to study. With professionals in all fields of interest like Engineering, Medicine, Agriculture, Finance, Communication, Theology, Statistics among others, all the challenges facing our motherland can be dissected and addressed. Proposition I envisage a situation where concerned Banyole come together under an umbrella grouping with the cardinal aim of solving Bunyoles problems in a selfless manner. The kind of people needed in this initiative are those who believe they can add value in whatever way, form or view without any hidden interests that are antagonistic to the well being of our people. The time to start is NOW. We dont have to be 100 people to start just as we dont have to target all the 250,000 residents of the district to start. Mother Theresa

(R.I.P) once said If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one. This loosely means that even if you cant help all the Banyole, at least start with those that you can help. Obviously the pie is big and cant be handled in totality from the start. However, I believe we can initially have the following interventions; 1. Sensitisation of the people on their Civil Responsibilities and expectations. 2. Creating a pro education mindset among the youths and parents 3. Empowering the people on improving their livelihoods economically Other additions can be made to this list of interventions as participating members deem fit. Modus Operandi The presence of Bunyole Forum on Facebook has been a good approach towards helping us know more about each other and the initial glue is already present. We have been and continue to deliberate on issues online showing a high level of understanding Bunyoles problems. We now need to move forward and start acting. Initially I envisage maintaining the loose arrangement we have as Bunyole Forum and planning outreach activities aimed at addressing the interventions highlighted above. As part of these outreach activities grow, we can consider partnering with other like-minded organisations on the ground in Butaleja for greater effectiveness. This will then put us in take off mode and the experiences we have shall shape the future of this programme since one can hardly envisage the entire spectrum of what needs to be done before hand. Potential Gains With our intervention, I anticipate that we can be able to achieve some of the following; I. A more informed electorate come 2016 that is less likely to be manipulated during the voting process. II. A more accountable leadership to its electorate III. Improved retention of the youths in school especially the girl child IV. Increased participation of parents in education matters of their children V. Better economic exploitation of the available resources. Call For Action This write-up attempts to piece together the ideas I have currently on what we as concerned Banyole from Butaleja can do in the short-run to intervene in the never-ending problems that afflict our motherland. Are you ready to join the initiative?