Introduction:

Community Service is a fully fledged department of the Ministry of Internal affairs.

The Government of Uganda introduced the Community Service program in November 2001 owing to the commitment to undertake reforms in the justice system through innovative approaches that increase communication and coordination among stakeholders and contributes to the ongoing reform process to improve the administration of Justice and maintenance of Law and Order in Uganda. Community Service requires that a person who commits a minor offence is sentenced by a competent court to perform unpaid work in the community where he resides instead of being sent to prison.

Over the years, most Post Colonial African societies in general and Uganda in particular, held the view that all offenders irrespective of the gravity of their offences had to go to prison. By the early 1990s it was realized that a 60% petty offender population was mixed with 40% hard core criminals crowded in obsolete structures where hygiene and nutrition standards were deteriorating fast.  It was under these circumstances that the Pan African Conference on Prison conditions in Africa was held in Kampala in 1996 and by the Kampala Declaration, Community Service was born to provide a reformative and constructive regime.

Legislative framework of Community Service:

The Kampala Declaration provided that all participating African countries would put in place mechanisms to introduce and domesticate Community Service. In Uganda, an Interim Community Service Committee of 1996 composed of all representatives in the Criminal Justice system and the public  and Chaired By High Court Judge made wide consultations and presented the Community Service Bill to parliament leading to the enactment of the Community Service Act of 2000 and Regulations of 2001 providing that any person who commits a petty offence punishable by imprisonment of not more than 2 years, may be sentenced to do unpaid work for the community instead of a term of imprisonment. An offender serving a Community Service Order is required to perform up to 980 hours (within 6 months) of unpaid work in his community of residence.

Download the Community Service Draft Act

Download the Community Service Regulations

Organizational Structure:

The Community Service Act 2000 and Regulations of 2001 provides for administrative structures to effectively and efficiently implement Community Service vested in the National Community Service Committee (NCSC) and District Community Service Committee (DCSC) whose composition is representative of all Justice, Law and Order agencies, Civil Society and the Public.

The National Community Service Committee-NCSC:

The Community Service Act 2000 empowers the National Committee to determine, formulate,   monitor and evaluate the implementation of policy. The Committee is chaired by a High Court Judge and other members are representative of the Directorate Of Public Prosecutions, The Police Force, Prisons Service, Probation Service, Local Government, President’s Office, Civil Society and the public.

District Community Service Committees-DCSCs:

They are a replica of the NCSC and are charged with initiating Community Based mechanisms for the effective implementation of CS. They also perform coordination, planning, supervision, monitoring and evaluation roles that inform policy decisions.

The Community Service Department:

Responsibility for implementing the program is vested in the Community Service Department (Formerly National Secretariat) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The executive authority of the program is vested in the Commissioner who heads the department and exercised in accordance to the Community Service Act and Regulations.

The Commissioner for the Community Service Department is the Secretary to the National Community Service Committee.

The Department also has Regional Community Service Officers staff at regional in Kampala Extra, Central, Northern, Eastern and Western Uganda

There are also officers for Research, Statistics (Data) and Development components and support staff in the department.

Program Goal:

The main goal of CS is to enhance the humane treatment and rehabilitation of petty offenders within their communities.

Program Purpose:

To increase accessibility to and utilization of Community Service as a sentencing option.

Objectives of the Program:

The program exists to:

• Rehabilitate petty offenders where prison has failed
• Decongest prison
• Reduce recidivism(repeating of offences)
• Promote the rights and dignity of petty offender
• Reduce government expenditure on petty offenders in prisons
• Promote social cohesion through reconciliation of petty offenders, victims and the community
• Contribute to international conventions on Human rights and Good Governance

Implementing Community Service

Community Service was first piloted in four districts beginning November 2001 to experiment and develop a distinctive profile, acceptability, capacity and niche.  By the end of September 2003, 1288 petty offenders had been placed on Community Service and 875 offenders representing a total of 69,000 man hours had completed the punishment of public works in their communities in Mukono, Mpigi, Masaka and Masindi.

In 2004 a review of the Community Service mandate, an assessment of accomplishments, structure, strategic direction, challenges and future prospects was done; the outcome of which highly illuminated successes and potential for growth and replicability hence roll out in all districts of Uganda.

In preparation for the nationwide rollout a comprehensive capacity building program to train and sensitize all key stakeholders at National, Regional, District and Sub-county level was drawn. The program aimed at increasing awareness on CS and to equip different key stakeholders with knowledge, core competencies and skills to effectively assume their roles.

Since then, training and sensitization workshops have been conducted countrywide and  supplemented with dissemination of the CS Act and Regulations,  radio programs on major FM stations, public for a, distribution of brochures and posters in English, Luo, Luganda, Lusoga, and , Runyakitara.

Key Result Areas:

Since 2001, the program has built up valuable experience and made an important contribution to Human Rights and Good Governance in the following sub-areas:

1)   Issuance of Community Service Orders

To-date, well over 22,682 petty offenders have been diverted from prison and sentenced to do Community Service on projects of public orientation to wit; construction and environmental conservation, in schools and Health facilities-planting of trees and establishment of Nursery beds, de-silting of choked drainages, scouting, solid waste collection and disposal in urban areas, sinking of V.I.P Latrines, Brick making and laying, maintenance of feeder roads and community utilities. In some cases offenders’ professional skills have been matched with their punishments and they have been placed as carpenters, cooks and teachers within the community.

 The free labour of these offenders over the years translates in savings for both placement institutions and the government as tabulated here under.

Table 1: No of CSOs and Efficiency gains since 2003

F/Y	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	JULY-NOV 2009	TOTALS
Orders Issued	601	1,605	1,893	2,126	4,500	6,350	5,007	22,082
Savings to Gov't in ‘000 UGX	146,043	390,015	459,999	516,618	1,093,500	1,543,050	1,216,701	5,365,926
Savings to placement Institutions in ‘000 UGX	32,904	87,873	103,641	116,398	246,375	347,662	274,133	1,208,989
No. Of offenders who absconded (Default Rate 2.5 to 4%)	24	64	75	85	180	254	129	811

Source: Community Service Data Base 2009©

2) Capacity building

Developing and strengthening skills, abilities, processes and structures to sustain, adapt to and thrive in a fast-changing global environment has been priotised for all key stakeholders. Well over 38,258 stakeholders in the Judiciary, Prisons service, Police Force, Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Probation Service and Local Governments. Public for a have been held at sub-county level in every district in Uganda since the inception of Community Service. Sensitization has also taken place at Local Council 3 sectoral committee level and in Village meetings.

Publicity and Advocacy strategies targeting the public is a core function of the program. The program conducts radio programs, documentation and distribution of information to increase awareness on the provisions of legislation, due process, eligibility criteria, and benefits of the program through corporate wear, handbooks, reports, brochures and posters in English and some local languages. This has increased accessibility to and acceptance of Community Service as a viable option to incarceration allaying original fears of public reprisal.

3)   Monitoring and Evaluation

Rigorous enforcement of CSOs in accordance with the law through supervision and follow up is an enduring component of the program. An M&E tool to be standardized fosters periodic fact-finding continually drawing attention to progress, setbacks, lessons and areas of strategic shift or improvement. Technical and committee meetings at different levels coupled with review workshops enhance effective implementation.

Cross-cutting issues

• HIV and AIDs, Poverty, Gender and Environmental concerns are increasingly being mainstreamed into the process of Community Service.
• MIS-Disaggregated data collection, documentation and analysis informs policy decisions on approaches and measures to enhance the implementation of CS and opens opportunities for applied research.

Partnerships

Partnerships and Roles of Stakeholders:

Since the Community Service Program contributes to increasing access to justice in Uganda, it derives strengths from communication, networking and collaboration with other government departments and partners in the Justice, Law and Order Sector through vertical and horizontal linkages.

Close liaison with magistrates, attorneys, police, prisons and probation officers expedites the criminal procedure while Local Councils, extension workers, the public, NGOs and CBOs gives impetus to the implementation of the program with each sector performing rehabilitation, supervision and monitoring and reporting roles accordingly.

The Government and the public own the program and offer useful feedback, while partners at macro-level; such as the European Union offer financial and technical support.

Future prospects

All relevant government and partners’ efforts to promote justice and the rule of law inevitably have a multiplier effect on Community service placing a need to broaden its scope in structure and assure quality in the due process. This calls for consistency and continuity in capacity building and advocacy, Research and Development, comprehensive Monitoring and evaluation, strengthening the counseling component and effective inter-sectoral linkages to address criminal incidence, recidivism and make contributions to economic development. Proposals have also been made for legislative reform to take care of Juvenile justice concerns and Community Service and to make interpretations on contentious issues of minor offences and positions that are apparently redundant or dysfunctional in a changing global environment