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Cultivating Voters’ Perceptions and Women’s Political Representation in Uganda
(Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies, 2025-02-01) Dr. Doreen Chemutai (PhD)
This study considers voter perceptions as resources women politicians cultivate. How women cultivate this resource is relatively understudied in Uganda. The study addresses the gap in the literature through a qualitative approach. Women Members of Parliament (MPs) representing the Northern Uganda districts of Kitgum, Pader, Oyam, Agago, and Gulu selected purposively completed individual in-depth interviews. Additionally, constituents in Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) provided input with the help of a discussion guide. Findings reveal that voters' perceptions of women MPs are contextual; voter characteristics and expectations influence voters' impression of an individual. Irrespective of the seat type, women MPs cultivate votes through constituency service.
However, women in reserved seats use humility, honesty, and motherliness to influence voters' perceptions. Compared to women in open seats, women in reserved seats are better at nurturing voter perceptions. A further revelation is that a reciprocal relationship exists between voters' perceptions of MPs and performance outcomes. The study suggests that voters' perceptions are an essential political resource as they provide a feedback loop for improved performance, better policies and the election of good leaders.
A qualitative exploration of fermented milk processing traditionally practiced by the pokot ethnic group of Karamoja in Uganda
(Elsevier, 2026-07-09) Owiny Emmanuel; Oyet Sunday Mark; Chemutai Doreen; Kitambo Enos; Muggaga Christopher; Okello Uma-Ipolto
Traditional food processing methods have the potential to combat malnutrition while providing sustainable livelihoods in communities such as the Karamojong devasted by a high burden of malnutrition and associated health consequences. The purpose of the current study was to document the traditional milk processing among the Pokot community in Karamoja subregion of Uganda, specifically focusing on the sour milk. A qualitative study involving five key informants and 46 Focus Group Discussion (FGD) participants was employed. We found that traditional knowledge of fermenting milk is passed by the older women to younger generations while in their childhood. We also observed that the Pokot ethnic community used burnt plant parts for treating fermentation vessels. Calabash or gourds were the most common fermentation vessels though some households used plastic jerricans as fermentation vessels. A traditionally fermented milk locally known as lolon, follows seven key steps: cleaning of the gourds, milking, sieving, boiling, defatting, fermentation, and draining. Our study demonstrates that milk processing by traditional methods by the Pokot ethnic community is culturally entrenched, initiated when the women are at a young age. Cultural identity associated with the milk processing among the Pokot reinforces food systems, therefore, we recommend the need for further empirical research beyond the current exploration such as innovations for improving and optimizing the process steps to improve food security and nutrition among the Pokot community in Karamoja subregion.
Contextual factors associated with depression among urban refugee and displaced youth in Kampala, Uganda: findings from a cross-sectional study
(Springer Nature, 2020-05-15) Logie Carmen H.; Okumu Moses; Mwima Simon; Hakiza Robert; Chemutai Doreen; Kyambadde Peter
Background: Advancing mental health among refugee and displaced adolescents and youth is critically important, as chronic psychological stress can have lifelong harmful impacts. These groups experience socio-environmental stressors that can harm mental health. Informed by a social contextual framework, this study explored the prevalence of depression among urban refugee and displaced youth in Kampala, Uganda and associations with symbolic (violence), relational (social support), and material (food and community insecurity) contexts. Methods: We implemented a cross-sectional survey with refugee and displaced adolescent girls and young women and adolescent boys and young men aged 16–24 living in Kampala’s informal settlements. We conducted peer-driven recruitment, whereby peer navigators shared study information with their networks and in turn participants were invited to recruit their peers. We conducted gender disaggregated analyses, including stepwise multiple regression to examine factors associated with depression. We then conducted structural equation modeling (SEM) using weighted least squares estimation to examine direct paths from violence, food insecurity, and community insecurity to depression, and indirect effects through social support. Results: Among participants (n = 445), young women (n = 333) reported significantly higher depression symptoms than young men (n = 112), including any symptoms (73.9% vs. 49.1%, p < 0.0001), mild to moderate symptoms (60.4% vs. 45.5%, p = 0.008), and severe symptoms (13.5% vs 3.6%, p = 0.002). SEM results among young women indicate that the latent violence factor (lifetime sexual and physical violence) had direct effects on depression and social support, but social support did not mediate the path from violence to depression. The model fit the data well: χ2(3) = 9.82, p = 0.020; RMSEA = 0.08, 90% CI [0.03, 0.14], CFI = 0.96). Among young men, SEM findings indicate that food insecurity had direct effects on social support, and an indirect effect on depression through the mediating role of social support. Fit indices suggest good model fit: χ2(3) = 2.09, p = 0.352; RMSEA = 0.02, 90% CI [0.000, 0.19], CFI = 0.99.
Motives and Political Representation: The Case of Women Members of Parliament in Uganda
(East African Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 2023-11-10) Chemutai Doreen; Mulyampiti Tabitha
Women’s political representation in Uganda is a contentious issue. On the one hand, there are doubting public narratives of Women Members of
Parliaments’ (WMP) performance. The doubts about WMPs’ performance inspired growing interest in their parliamentary performance. On the other hand, there are concerns about the gender gap in parliamentary representation. The underrepresentation of women in the political scene
raises a puzzle about those who dare to compete. However, at the same time, there has been neglect of what drives women in the first place to
parliamentary representation and their relationship to performance. This intriguing question calls for an objective analysis to unravel what influences women’s interest in parliamentary office. This paper answers two analytical questions: How do women Members of Parliament construe their interests in joining parliamentary politics? And whether WMPs’ motives influence their performance. These questions were answered by analysing conversations and interviews of five purposively selected WMPs representing five districts of Northern Uganda in the tenth Parliament between 2020 and 2021. Field data was triangulated with performance data from the same Parliament’s Hansard. Findings reveal that personal and social-cultural factors drive WMPs to Parliament. Motives are consequential to performance, although personal motives were more potent than socialcultural motives to performance. Personal, compared to social-cultural motives, are more susceptible to social-political factors in constituencies, institutions of Parliament, and the broad government, affecting motives’ fulfilment
POWER AND DEVELOPMENT: CONTROVERSIES OVER THE BUJAGALI HYDROPOWER PROJECT ALONG THE NILE RIVER IN UGANDA.
(LINKÖPING UNNIVERSITY, 2007) Kilama Luwa Justine ,
Mega projects are in most cases considered as the necessary evil of development. Before their benefits can be reaped, a lot of sacrifices and tough choices have to be made. The fear and uncertainties surrounding such projects range from the impacts on the local people, on the environment, the costs of investment, and to, if the project will deliver the promised benefits. Because of these fears and uncertainties, it is not unusual that most if not all such projects meet a lot of critics and resistance before their success or failures are witnessed. Today, it is more of a requirement than a belief (although without a guarantee) that stakeholders’ involvement and their active participation in all decision-making process concerning a project is the surest way of minimizing conflicts and ensuring justice. The Bujagali hydropower project being an example of such projects and without immunity to the problems faced by other mega project around the world has been a case study for this thesis. This study has therefore focused on institutional arrangements that governed the management and utilization of water resources in connection to hydropower development along the Nile River in Uganda, the procedures and stages of the negotiations for hydropower infrastructure development in Uganda, identified the major stakeholders that take part in such negotiations and looked in detail for what their issues and interests are. It has also examined the attitudes and opinions of stakeholders on the potential and benefits of hydropower against (solar, bio-fuel and geothermal) energy sources in the context of Uganda, taking into consideration the need for socio-economic development, preservation of culture and environmental protection. Finally, it has analyzed the conflicts/controversies that have arisen in the Bujagali hydropower project.