Introducing to you...Rebecca Birungi

In January I wrote a blog post introducing you to one of my colleagues at UMWA and Mama FM. Now I believe it is time to introduce another one. For the past few weeks I have worked quite closely with Rebecca Birungi. We are writing an article about women artists in Uganda, and between research and interviews I’ve also had the chance get to know Becky better, and I have really come to appreciate this lovely and very talented lady. 

Rebecca has a BA in Mass communication and a MA in Public Health. She has worked with UMWA and Mama FM since 2005. She is a bit of an all-rounder in our organization. She works as a researcher, as a reporter and as a producer. She also helps out with proposal writing.

In 2009 Becky spent 10 months in Kathmandu in Nepal through the Fredskorpset South-South programme. She worked as a part time lecturer for the College of Journalism and Mass Communication and as a producer for the radio station CJMC.FM 106mhz. According Samjhana, a former FK-participant from Nepal who was her when I came, Becky’s Nepalese isn’t at all bad.  

Rebecca works in communication and journalism because she likes meeting and interacting with other people. She is at Mama FM working with girls and gender because she regards gender equality ads as development issue.

“I believe that if women can get good information about health, about environment and so on, they improve their own lives”, she says.

In the future Rebecca wants to become a health and environmental specialist, and she wants to work specifically with women.

Uganda's homophobia

Before you read this post I would like to emphasize that the views and opinions I present are my personal views and opinions. They do not represent FK Norway nor UMWA and Mama FM’s views. 

On Wednesday last week David Kato - one of the most outspoken gay rights advocates in Uganda - was found murdered in his house in Mukono, Kampala. He had beaten to death with a hammer. I was seriously taken back by the news of his death. I did know that homophobia was severe in Uganda. I knew that “homosexual acts” are illegal and can be punished by 14-year prison sentences and that Parliament was (and still are actually) considering a bill to execute gay people. I also followed the stories in October, just after I had arrived in Uganda, when the magazine Rolling Stone published an article with names and pictures of prominent Ugandan alleged homosexuals including Mr.Kato - calling for them to be hanged. But I had never thought that Rolling Stones’ hate call and the general homophobia in this country would actually go as far as to kill someone. I was wrong.

One thing is the tragedy of his death; another thing is the tragedy of how Ugandan police and most Ugandans are dealing with the murder. I find it unbelievably provoking how the police are trying to chalk up the motive to robbery claiming that his death had nothing to do with Rolling Stones hate campaign. Even more frustrating and disappointing is the way most people I talk to (and this includes educated people whom I respect, some of them with degrees in human rights!!!!) will say –”it is awful that he died, but it has nothing to do with him being a gay rights activist”. Really? Kato was one of the three people who sued the Rolling Stones to force it to stop publishing the names, pictures and addresses of people it believed were gay or lesbian. Only weeks ago he won the case  - Uganda Supreme Court told the magazine to stop publishing names of prominent Ugandan alleged homosexuals and ordered the newspaper to pay Kato and the other two plaintiffs 1.5 million Ugandan shillings each. Since the ruling, David said he had been receiving a number death threats. 

It is obvious that the murder of Kato was a hate crime!It is obvious that it was in every way connected to his homosexuality! The murder of David Kato shows once and for all that the hate towards gays in Uganda is dangerous and that it must be stopped – sticking our heads in the sand claiming that this was just a ”ordinary robbery” will not do anyone any good!

The Other Voice

In addition to our radio station UMWA has another media outlet. The Other Voice (TOV) is a four-page advocacy and lobbying newspaper which was started in 1998 as a response to the unfair and inadequate coverage of women issues and other marginalized groups in Uganda.  It used to be published monthly in 5 languages (English, Luganda, Runyakitara, Luo and Ateso), but is now only published quarterly in english as a pullout in The New Vision (because of limited funding).

The latest edition was published in January and focused on issues of legislation and domestic violence. I wrote an article on The Domestic Violence Act which I figured I could post here. If you want to read  more articles storier the paper they are published on our website.




WHY IS THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT ONLY A SCARE CROW?

Nine months after its enactment, the Act has not brought a single offender to book.

After languishing in parliament for almost a decade, it was a hard-won victory for gender rights in Uganda when the House finally passed the domestic violence bill in November 2009. In March last year President Museveni assented to the Act and it was official; Uganda finally had a legislation that specifically handles domestic violence. The law cast a ray of hope for thousands of women and children. While earlier, rape within marriage was not even considered a crime, and most domestic violence offenders went unpunished, the new law would make sure that offenders would be prosecuted and convicted in courts of law. According to the Gender, Labour and Social Development Minister, Gabriel Opio, the Act would ensure fairness when dealing with domestic relations between a man and a woman and other people in the domestic setting, including housemaids and children.

The law is not being enforced

But ten months after its enactment, the Act is still miles away from making a real difference for the victims of domestic violence. Often times women are let down by the notorious justice system in Uganda and many still live in agony. Faridah Nazziwa 27, a resident of Nabweru says that her husband, a one Ronald Katege with whom she has two children beat her up and broke her back as she tried to solicit support for her children from their father who neglected them. She took the case to the police and the man was arrested, but he didn’t even spend a night in the cell as his relatives bribed the police and had him released. Nazziwa says the law on domestic violence sounds a good tool but not to her because nothing seems to be on ground. She thinks that if the law is already in operation, why has she not seen justice from the case she filed months ago?

According to Harriet Nabankema, a legal officer with Federation of Women Lawyers in Uganda (FIDA), the law on domestic violence has not once been enforced since it came into place. Why? Because victims of domestic violence still face numerous economic and social obstacles while pursuing justice. In other words, the law is there but the victims can’t access it.

A mother and Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba look at the healing bruises of Nakku Shakira who was burnt by her husband.

 

 

 

 

 Buying justice

A report released by Amnesty international last April shows that Ugandan authorities are not giving victims of domestic violence adequate support when seeking justice. Most women face inadequate response from the police, often having to pay for the cost of transportation to arrest the accused and other expenses related to
the investigation like paying for photocopies or money for their mobile phone airtime.

The report titled “I Can’t Afford Justice – Violence against women in Uganda” also shows that in cases where domestic violence involves sexual abuse the victims are supposed to report the matter rapidly so that a medical examination can be conducted within 48 hours after the crime. But as Nabankema also points out, poorer women are unable to afford this medical examination which can cost up to Ug Shs 30,000. Many victims of domestic violence are economically dependent on their abuser, and might even refrain from reporting the abuse at all, since the man is the main bread winner and him going to jail will imply that she and the children will suffer while he is gone. Another challenge is finding witnesses to testify in cases of domestic violence. Some people may want to witness, but fail to pay for transportation to court. Others still hold the attitude that domestic violence is a “private matter” and something the neighbours should not interfere with.


Discriminatory attitudes in the police

Discriminatory attitudes and behaviour within the police also impede the full implementation of the law. According to Nabankema, many victims of domestic violence feel that they are being treated dismissively by the police. Attitudes, such as believing that a woman is to blame if she is subjected to violence and believing that a husband beating his wife once in a while is acceptable, are widespread within the police. Besides, many police officers find it more important to protect the family unit than to protect the safety and the rights of the woman. This is supported by the findings in Amnesty’s report which shows that the Ugandan police often encourage the victims to reconcile with their partners for the sake of preserving the family unit.

Attitudes must change

Training the police and changing their attitudes on domestic violence is therefore important if the law against domestic violence is to protect sufferers and punish perpetrators. But even more important is changing the attitudes among ordinary people and especially among the victims of domestic violence themselves. A report from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2008 indicated that 77 percent of women between the age of 15 and 49 felt that spousal violence was justified for a variety of reasons such as burning food or refusing sexual relations. Raising awareness on domestic violence and changing the attitudes and behaviours of men and women in the communities is therefore crucial if people are to make use of the law. "Victims of domestic violence must understand that they are actually victims of a criminal offence, and that domestic abuse is not a private matter that can be justified because you argued with your partner or refused to have sex",  Nabankema says. She believes that the victims have to stop thinking that reporting domestic abuse is "washing your dirty linen in public", and start believing that reporting a criminal offence such as domestic abuse is actually a right and even a duty as a law abiding citizen.

All in all, the law against domestic violence is a victory for gender equality in Uganda as it is a necessary condition for justice. But for the law to be effective, we have to change the cultural attitudes and beliefs in our country. All organizations, institutions and per- sons who can, should therefore seek knowledge about the new law and work assiduously to take the law out to communities and inform people about the rights that it provides.

Because as Nabankema says: The day a victim walks into a police station and speaks authoritatively about being domestically abused. The day she actually believes that she can take the offender to court and have him punished, and the day she knows that she can make it without him. That is the day when the law against domestic violence can achieve its objectives. We at UMWA are doing our part, are you?



 

Introducing to you....

I don’t know why, maybe because I’ve “gone native” and can’t seem to observe anything around me anymore that I think other people would find interesting to read about, or maybe because I have become very lazy... or maybe  too busy?!  Regardless of the reason - I have been a lousy blogger for the last couple of months. But, with the new year comes a fresh start and I'll begin my new life as a better blogger by introducing you to some of my colleagues at Mama FM. I’m starting off with Olive Mutesi, one of the ladies whom I worked closest with and learned the most from at Mama FM. We worked together on preparing two radio programs in November during the 16 days of activism against gender violence-campaign (yes, I have been on air in Uganda:-). The first program was on gender based violence and HIV/AIDS, the second one on gender based violence and elections. Normally though, Olive works with the English news at Mama FM. She produces, edits and reads the headlines at 10 am, a full bulletin at 11 am and another full bulletin at 14 pm. It's quite a big job, and she does it very well! Olive has a diploma in journalism from United media Consultants and Trainers (UMCAT) and has worked with radio for almost four years. She first started out in Touch FM 95,9 in 2007 and came to Mama FM in July last year. In the future she wants to move into television and get more experience with video editing.

 

Going out in the field

During the last week I’ve followed the project officers from UMWA out on two different projects. Last Friday we went to Mukono - a district about 20 km south west of Kampala.  As part of the international campaign - 16 days of activism against gender violence -UMWA has been going out to different communities to do role-plays and do community dialogues about domestic violence. When we arrived in Mukono it seemed as if t the ones responsible for assembling people for the event hadn’t done a very good job since we found the tent like this:

 But after some hours a number of people turned up and it ended up being a quite good event:

 On Wednesday this week I went on another project in Wakiso (also quite close to Kamapala). This project specifically targets kids who have dropped out of school. Wednesday was the first of three day training where our project officers, accompanied by personnel from ISF (International Solidarity Foundation) would take the kids through exercises in areas such as gender, human rights and domestic violence. On Wednesday the young ones started with introducing themselves, and telling the group why they had dropped out of school. Then, May (one of our project coordinators) took them through an exercise where they reflected upon the typical daily life for an African woman. The group then identified some of the challenges that a typical rural woman in Uganda meet. Then they went on to the concept of gender, looking at the different characteristics, responsibilities and roles that are normally expected from Ugandan men and women – and also what kinds of characteristics and behaviours that are accepted. The discussion got quite heated as one of the boys told the group that it was a woman’s responsibility to do the work at home (watch after the children, cook, clean and so on) and that he didn’t think it was right that he, after a long day of work making money for the family, should have to help out with even more work at home.

He was met by heavy protest from some of the girls who thought this was old fashioned thinking – the men should also help out. “If I am making tea, you can watch after the kids”, one of them asserted.

Why I love being a journalist

Last Thursday I was introduced to a young ugandan lady called Tshila. Tshila is a computer engineer – but since 2005 she has spent most her time composing and performing music. Last Thursday I saw her perform at the Emin Pasha in Kampala and decided that I wanted to make a feature about her and her music for the program Jungeltelegrafen on NRK P2.

Since then I’ve spent some time with her and her friends  and I’ve been reminded why I love being a journalist. I love my job because it introduces me to people that I wouldn’t normally meet and puts me in situations I wouldn’t normally be in. Like on Wednesday when I spent two hours in a tiny appartment in Mengo listening to Tshila and her fellow musicians as they were rehearsing for another concert.

Mama FM - the voice to listen to

Last week I participated in a workshop at UMWA. The training was for the radio staff in Mama FM, and it was great chance to brush up on my knowledge about press ethics and journalism skills. Somehow it seems as the codes of conduct and journalistic principles can never be repeated to often. We discussed and brainstormed on “simple” questions such as “Who is a journalist?” and “what is a good radio program?”. Some of the staff at Mama FM has no formal training as journalists, so for them this was an extremely useful exercise. But for me as well, although I just finished my degree in journalism – rethinking what my profession actually entails and what defines good radio was valuable.

Moreover, the workshop was good opportunity to learn a whole lot more about Mama FM and my fellow colleagues. I did know a few things about the radio even before the workshop. I knew that it was set up by UMWA in 2001 as a way of disseminating development information to engage and empower marginalised and impoverished women. I knew that it was the first women radio station in Africa (and the second in the world after the Norwegian RadiOrakel). But throughout the workshop I also got further insight into the different programs and presenters, some of the challenges they face and some of their hopes and wishes for the future.

One of the programs that we took a closer look at in the training is Abakyala Tweyogerere (Women Talk Back). The program is on from 6:00PM – 8:00PM every Sunday and focuses on women’s activities, aspiration and achievements in politics, economic and social arenas. It gives women the opportunity to exchange ideas, offer advice and present solutions to problems that affect women’s development. The objective is to encourage women to speak out about what they are doing to improve their livelihoods and share experiences and ideas on attaining recognition and status in society.

The program is hosted by some very lovely and talented ladies; Brenda Namaganda and Rebecca Birunji (in the picture).

Another show at Mama FM which is important is the morning show. In Luganda it is called ”Ssubi Lya Kunkya” (Early Morning Hope). The morning show focuses on issues affecting disadvantaged people and encourages these people, especially women, to stand on their own and build their self-esteem. It also updates people on important local, national and international happenings that have occurred during the night. There are numerous other programs that deserve a closer description here. Most of them do in some way or another engage in the fields of health, law, politics, human rights or religion. I am sure I will write more about them later, but if you are interested you can also read more about them on the website: http://www.umwamamafm.co.ug/mama-fm-1017/programs. 

Currently, Mama FM reaches out to cover a population of 3 million people in 400 km across eastern, central, south-western and western parts of Uganda. In the workshop, when the radio presenters and producers were asked about their wishes for the future, national coverage was on top of most people’s lists. Another wish was on funding. Today UMWA and Mama FM depend heavily on donor support. Some donations are short e.g. one year or just a onetime event.  This is a major limitation to the organization’s activities. A strong independent financial source is therefore something that most of the presenters, producers and reporters wish for, especially those who work as volunteers (and they are quite many!).

The staff at Mama FM

As resources are scarce, most programs on Mama FM are prepared, produced and presented by one or two people. (That is quite amazing when you compare it to some of the programs at NRK. One hour of Her & Nå, the news and “current affairs” program at NRK P1 in Norway, requires intensive work from at least 8 or 9 journalists). (My impression is that) pre-produced edited features tend to be a bit too time consuming, so most programs are based on a “talkshow-model”. The presenters research a specific and current topic (for instance divorce or maternal mortality – or the nomination for the election). Then they present relevant statistics and facts about the topic, and talk about the current situation in studio. Then they might invite two or three relevant guests for a debate or a conversation about the topic, and then, very often, receive phone calls from listeners to hear their stories and opinions. There are some vox pops and preproduced interviews, but in most cases the “talking in studio” is the way the program is produced.

I believe Mama FM could earn from getting more “out of the studio”. As I’ve been taught at NRK - it is important to bring the listeners out – out in the villages, on the market, in the streets. Of course it is hard, if not impossible with such limited resources, but maybe that is one area where I can contribute in some way or another in the ten months that I’ll be working here.