KIRUCODO Kikandawa Rural Communities Development Organization GAJE 6 th Conference - Valencia 2011 Rural Communities Criminal Justice Awareness Project – RCC-JAP

The Executive Director Robert Kibaya

Justice Makers Fellowship and International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) funding IBJ is an NGO working to guarantee all citizens the right to competent legal representation, prevent torture being used as an investigative tool, and ensure the right to a fair trial.

Orientation:

The organisation – KIRUCODO KIRUCODO – established by a group in the community who, at the time, were running small-scale income generating projects in Kikandwa village. This is an area with devastating social and economic conditions that include: Low literacy High unemployment Poor hygiene conditions Increasing poverty Lack of health care services

Some Activities for KIRUCODO in 09/10: Rural Communities Criminal Justice Awareness Project – RCC-JAP. Training villagers in beekeeping trade. Scholastic material donation to pupils. Set-up a new networking website in partnership with digital organisation Caspar. Establishing a Community Information Resource Centre.

Employment levels Majority of the community are poor farmers who use hand hoes to dig the ground and produce crops for home consumption. The community suffer from severe poverty with average earnings being between 1000 UGX to 2000 UGX per week. (1US$ = 2,500 UGX )

Facilities There is no tap water and no electricity. The nearest police station is 7 miles. The medical centre is 8 miles away. The closest internet service is 12 miles. There is one poorly equipped primary school. The roads are ill maintained.

Road to the village House in the village

Village houses Children from the village

What is RCC-JAP? Objectives: Educating people about their rights. Enabling people to have somewhere to report their injustices. Monitoring the justice system, ensuring that the proper procedures are being followed.

Where did the RCC- JPP idea come from? “The main aim of the project is to involve poor rural communities in monitoring any legal abuses, be they human rights, property or any other type, and to provide a way for them to seek justice legally and confidently with no fear, regardless of their ethnic background, economic status, educational level, or gender.” - Robert Kibaya

Why? The problem: Distance between criminal justice providers and the rural communities (the police station is located 7 miles away). Lack of knowledge on how the legal system functions. Human rights violations. Poverty and poor social infrastructures in the area. Large numbers of pre-trial detainees. Corrupt practices that allow for bribery.

You Tube video about KIRUCODO

Ten committee members during training by the two visiting lawyers

Committee members discussing their report findings with the visiting lawyers

The training Members of the committees were informed of their responsibilities and duties: “Communicating to the members of your respective communities about their human rights and also expose any injustice suffered or likely to be suffered by any member of your community.”

The training In the training it was also stated that: “…the task of the committee is to first of all teach the people about their rights, enforcement of those rights and if there is any actual or impending miscarriage of justice, show your members the various offices to contact for redress.”

Profiles of lawyers: PatrickVicent

The training Police Act Prison Act Criminal Procedure Code Act Children Act The Magistrate Courts Act Trial on Indictment Act The Local Council Courts Act Land Act Community Service Act Arbitration and the Conciliation Act

Residential District Commissioner attended the opening ceremony of the project.

Discussion Training materials for the committee members: - What strategies should be employed to make improvements? -What else could be included in the training? Dealing with the police and government officials: - What are the best practices to overcome opposition?

Example of a case assisted by RCC- JAP: 70 year old Kizza (right)

Generating further changes / creating a wider impact: “In the first phase of my project implementation, I was impressed by new innovations by our Committee members – such as Community Drive where they pay individual home visits and conduct consultations with parents and their children on hardships they face in their respective homes. This has helped us to discover a number of issues related to human rights abuses in homes.” - Robert Kibaya

Generating further changes / creating a wider impact: “I was also impressed to notice that major government institutions consider the project as one of the channels through which they can also extend their services to underserved communities in distant villages.” - Robert Kibaya

On behalf of Robert Kibaya thank you for your interest in the Rural Communities Criminal Justice Awareness Project KIRUCODO

Contact details Robert Kibaya: Kikandwa Rural Communities Development Organization - KIRUCODO Address P.O.BOX 494 Kikandwa Village, Mukono, Uganda Phone: Website: