IRD - Uganda Coordinator facing trial

On 6 May 2016, human rights defender and Netsquared Local Organiser
Fort Portal - Uganda and and IRD - Uganda Coordinator Mr Solomon Akugizibwe was charged by a court in Fort Portal, Western Uganda, with "disobeying lawful orders" and is
facing trial, all in connection with his role in monitoring a recent
demonstration organised by members of the political opposition in Fort
Portal.

On 5 May 2016, the human rights defender was observing the Forum for Democratic Change demonstration in Fort Portal, as part of his advocacy work with IRD - Uganda and AHURIO. During the demonstration, he was arrested along with several other observers and taken into custody by police. While the others were released, Solomon Akugizibwe was kept in custody overnight, and was not informed of the charges being brought against him. On 6 May 2016, he was taken to court and charged with “disobeying lawful orders”. He was released on bail, yet the charges against him still stand. His trial is scheduled for 1 June 2016. 

The charges against Solomon Akugizibwe are related to a ban, imposed by the Ugandan Cabinet on 5 May 2016, that prohibits all live media coverage of demonstrations led by opposition leader Kizza Besigye and his political party, Forum for Democratic Change. The announcement of the results of the Ugandan presidential election, where President Museveni was elected to a fifth term, has set off a wave of protests staged by the opposition, some of which have been violently disrupted. The opposition movement disputes the recent election results, claiming that the election process was not conducted fairly. Some journalists and human rights defenders, like Solomon Akugizibwe, have been eager to document and highlight the violent incidents characterised by the involvement of police in disrupting these demonstrations. The ban on live media coverage by the government serves to limit publicity of the protests organized by the opposition movement.

Front Line Defenders expresses grave concern over the charge against Solomon Akugizibwe, which it believes to be in connection with his legitimate work in the defence of human rights. Further concern is expressed with regard to the increasingly limited space in which human rights defenders are allowed to conduct their work in Uganda.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Uganda to:
1. Immediately drop all charges against Solomon Akugizibwe as it is believed that they are solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights;
2. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Uganda are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.

More: https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-solomon-akugizibwe

Fort Portal Netsquared Local Organiser receives training in using online tools by Netsquared East Africa

The Netsquared Local Organiser , Fort Portal – Uganda, Solomon
Akugizibwe received two day training at City Resort Hotel, Mukono –
Uganda on effectively using social media online tools like twitter,
Whatsapp, Facebook, using VPN, Teamviewer, reporting and using meetups

The two day training was conducted on 12th and 13th May, 2016 was
facilitated by Netsquared regional ambassador Ednah Karamagi and
former Netsquared Regional Ambassador, Robert Kibaya.

During the training, with other regional ambassadors from Uganda,
Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, Solomon was able to learn that online social
technology is constantly changing hence the need to have a community
to share and learn.

In addition, the participants were able to identify the qualities of a
good Netsquared organizer like being a resident of a community, must
be a leader, able to volunteer, having basic ITC Skills and literate
in atleast one international language.

Further, participants received skills in organizing an event like
choosing a topic related to ICT, asking yourself as a netsquared
organizer why the selected topic is important, determining your
audience, identifying the methodology like lecture, panel or workshop
and other issues like determining the time needed to conduct a meetup.

In organizing a meetup it’s also important to know the presenters,
potential partners, identifying the venue, managing the time as the
host and documentation and sharing your activity by having atleast two
silent rapporteurs and having a reliable communication for
coordinating the event.

After the training, I will scale up the recruitment and training of
more members, conducting more online trainings in my community;
increasingly using the meetup online platform to communicate my
activities, reporting my activities and identification and mentorship
of more local organizers.

During the training, I was able to network with my colleagues and
share challenges and success stories for instance in Fort Portal I
shared an experience of challenges like lacking appropriate equipments
like cameras/phones for documentation and sharing our activities
especially using photos and videos and not being on the Netsquared
Whatsapp group. I shared my success stories to other members in
mobilizing for meetups in my community.

I am grateful to Netsquared for enabling me attend this 2 day fruitful
training by facilitating my travel, accommodation and feeding and the
facilitators for equipping me with this fruitful knowledge and skills.

Documentation: Solomon Akugizibwe, Netsquared Local Local organizer,
Fort Portal - Uganda