Kotido, Uganda: Grassroots women activists in Karamoja are driving a new wave of civic accountability and local governance oversight, with Nakere Rural Women Activists (NARWOA) emerging as a central force in empowering women to demand transparency and participate in leadership.
The momentum was highlighted on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, during a live broadcast on 92.7 Etoil Akaramoja FM, where NARWOA Executive Director Jessica Ruth Ataa addressed listeners on the Women’s Accountability and Voice Action (WAVA) Project radio talk show, sparking unprecedented audience engagement across Kotido District.
“I am here as a woman who can, proud to have helped build this movement from the ground up. We don’t just advocate for women’s rights—we live them in our villages every day,” Ataa said, positioning NARWOA as both a grassroots movement and a practical governance actor.
Ataa credited the organisation’s growth to sustained community organising and strategic partnerships, acknowledging international donors from Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden for supporting NARWOA’s three-year mission to transform accountability in Karamoja.
“Your support fuels our mission to transform Karamoja. We pledge to shine brighter than ever,” she said, while also commending government partners for enabling collaboration rather than confrontation in addressing governance gaps.
She urged women to step forward as leaders ahead of the 2026 elections, pledging NARWOA’s full backing to female candidates at all levels. “When one woman rises, we all rise,” Ataa said.
WAVA Project Impact
During the programme, NARWOA leaders outlined achievements under the WAVA Project, implemented through a Train, Equip, Amplify strategy. According to Ataa, more than 500 women have been trained in participatory governance, while 27 women candidates are currently preparing to contest leadership positions in the 2026 local government elections.
Radio accountability segments have also doubled listener participation, reflecting growing community interest in monitoring public resources and service delivery.
Kotido District Community Development Officer Lemu Richard said NARWOA has simplified governance tools to make public finance oversight accessible to grassroots communities. “We are turning complex financial documents into pictorial ‘shilling stories’ so that even grandmothers can track borehole funds,” Lemu said.
Tangible Results on the Ground
Women-led monitoring initiatives are already yielding measurable outcomes. Hon. Namoe Rose Lilly revealed that audit teams have recovered millions of shillings misused in school construction projects, while Hon. Napio Rose Mary said reports on poor road works now automatically trigger district-level investigations.
Listeners who called into the programme shared testimonies of social change. “Before NARWOA, leaders called us noisy hens. Now they fear our spreadsheets,” said a farmer from Kaabong.
A teacher from Kotido Town said the visibility of women leaders is reshaping aspirations among girls. “My daughter sees Hon. Napio and says, ‘That’s my future seat,’” the caller said.
2026–2028 Agenda
Ataa said NARWOA’s next phase will focus on expanding weekly radio accountability programmes, offering legal and public relations support to women candidates, and establishing youth–women governance councils to strengthen intergenerational civic engagement.
The WAVA Project is implemented by the FOWODE–NARWOA Consortium, with support from the Embassies of Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden, and is currently regarded as Uganda’s largest gender-accountability initiative in pastoral regions.
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