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Indigenous evaluation blog
Report on Participation of Dr. Awuor Ponge - Part 1IntroductionI participated in the 9th Uganda Evaluation Week (UEW 2026), organised by the Uganda Evaluation Association (UEA)to mark its Silver Jubilee (2001–2026). My participation was made possible by the support of the EvalIndigenous Global Network through her Global leadership of Co-Chairs Dr. Fiona Cram and Serge Eric Yakeu Djiam. Special thanks to the Global Leadership and to the Network as a whole for this support. My engagement spanned the full five days of the conference – from pre-conference capacity development workshops on Days 1 and 2, through keynote and parallel sessions on Days 3 and 4, to the closing plenary on Day 5. This report highlights the key contributions I made and the principal takeaways from each session in which I participated.  Main Conference Media Briefing Platform Pre-Conference Workshops (Days 1 & 2)Day 1 – Monday, 4 May 2026On Day 1, Monday, 4 May 2026, I participated in a pre-conference Workshop on ATLAS.ti for Rigorous Qualitative Evidence. This full-day workshop, facilitated by Mr. Eugene Miheso Swinnerstone (Senior M&E and ICT Consultant, UEA Academia Representative), introduced ATLAS.ti as a platform for systematic qualitative data analysis in monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) practice. The central message was that rigorous qualitative evidence demands appropriate digital infrastructure, not methodological intent alone. The workshop demonstrated how ATLAS.ti enables systematic coding, organisation of complex datasets, and the production of audit-ready analytical outputs – standards increasingly required by donors, governments, and evaluation commissioners. My key takeaway was the importance of investing in digital capacity for qualitative evaluation work across African development contexts, where qualitative methods are widely used but often analytically underdeveloped.
Day 2 – Tuesday, 5 May 2026On Day 2, Tuesday, 5 May 2026, I participated in a pre-conference Workshop on AI-Powered Digital Data Collection. This two-part practical workshop was co-facilitated by Mr. Kenneth Otikal (CEO, NATE Africa Consulting Ltd) and Mr. Eugene Miheso Swinnerstone, anchored in a live fieldwork case from the ADEFO Multi-Actor Partnership (MAP) Projectin Teso, Eastern Uganda. Session 1 demonstrated how AI tools can convert complex paper-based survey instruments into fully functional KoBoToolbox XLSForms in under 60 minutes, compressing a process that previously consumed up to three days. Session 2 introduced AI-powered interview agents for automating structured Key Informant Interviews, with a hybrid model in which AI handles factual and operational questions while human researchers manage sensitive and strategic exchanges. Both sessions were grounded in Uganda’s Data Protection and Privacy Act (2019), with strong emphasis on informed consent, data sovereignty, and the ethical limits of AI deployment. My key takeaway was that AI offers transformative efficiency gains in data collection, but only within a framework of ethical rigour, community consent, and continuous human oversight. Launch of the Commemorative HandbookThe Official Opening Ceremony on Day 2 (5 May 2026), presided over by Rt. Hon. Justine Kasule Lumumba (Minister for General Duties, OPM) and chaired by Dr. Josephine Watera (UEA President and Conference Chair), marked the launch of the UEA Commemorative Handbook, From Evidence to Impact: 25 Years of Evaluation Learning, Practice and Influence in Uganda. I contributed two chapters to this volume. The first, co-authored with Dr. Josephine Watera and appearing as Chapter 2, is titled: “The Evolution of Monitoring and Evaluation in Eastern Africa with a Focus on the Public Sector in Uganda and Kenya: From Aid Conditionality to National Ownership.” The second, my sole-authored contribution appearing as Chapter 12, is titled: “From Capacity to Credibility – Reframing Evaluation Capacity and Professionalizing Evaluation Practice in Eastern Africa within Global Paradigms.” This chapter advances a critical argument about the relationship between capacity development and professional credibility in Eastern African evaluation practice, situating the region’s trajectory within broader global frameworks of professionalisation and institutional accountability. Day 3 – Wednesday, 6 May 2026Keynote Panel 1: Harnessing AI and Big Data for Transformative Evaluation in AfricaOn Day 3, I was a Panelist in a Keynote Speech titled: Harnessing AI and Big Data for Transformative Evaluation in Africa. This morning plenary was keynoted by Dr. Fredrick Edward Kitoogo (Principal, Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology – UICT), who presented a compelling case for AI-enabled evaluation systems including automated reporting, predictive analytics, real-time dashboards, and a proposed “EvalGPT” model for evaluation intelligence. The session was moderated by Mr. Eugene Miheso Swinnerstone, with the panel comprising Dr. Rose Nakasi(AI Researcher and Lecturer, Makerere University), Dr. Steven Masvaure (Senior Researcher, CLEAR-AA), and myself. I used my panel contribution to engage critically with four dimensions of the AI agenda. First, I foregrounded the risk of AI hallucinations in evaluation practice – instances where generative AI produces outputs that appear credible but are in fact fabricated, including invented statistics, false citations, and misleading conclusions capable of distorting policy and funding decisions. I argued that AI must augment, not replace, professional judgment, and that all AI outputs require rigorous human verification before use in evaluations or donor reports. Second, I raised the question of Indigenous Data Sovereignty, pressing on three unresolved concerns: whether Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is genuinely respected in AI evaluation pipelines; algorithmic bias arising from the systematic underrepresentation of Indigenous populations in AI training datasets; and the risk of privacy violation, cultural exposure, and surveillance of land rights defenders through AI-enabled data systems. Third, I acknowledged AI’s positive potential for Indigenous communities when deployed ethically and under community control, including for language preservation, land rights mapping, environmental monitoring, and remote healthcare access. Finally, I called for Africa-led AI governance frameworks in evaluation that centre justice, cultural integrity, and responsible evidence generation – frameworks that must be developed by and for African evaluation communities rather than borrowed wholesale from the Global North.  Participants attentive in a Conference session Technical Session A: From Ivory Towers to Innovation HubsOn the same Day 3, I was a presenter in a Technical Session on Capacity building. My paper presentation was titled: From Ivory Towers to Innovation Hubs: The Transformative Role of Universities and Think Tanks in Reimagining Evaluation Practice. This session was chaired by Ms. Tebogo Fish (Programme Manager, Research and Learning, CLEAR-AA), with other presenters in the strand including Mr. George Theuri Kingori from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)’s Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service (IAES), who presented on “Harnessing Innovative Finance for Agricultural Research for Development: Evaluative Learning from CGIAR’s Ways of Working.” In my presentation, I argued that African universities must complete the transition from isolated knowledge-producing institutions into innovation hubs that generate practically relevant evaluation knowledge, train emerging evaluators in applied and decolonial methodologies, and contribute directly to national evaluation systems. I cited the University of Pretoria, Makerere University, the University of Nairobi and the Open University of Tanzania as institutions making this shift, and highlighted the complementary role of think tanks – including the International Centre for Evaluation and Development (ICED), the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), and the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) – as essential bridges between evidence generation and policy engagement. I was candid about persistent constraints: donor dependency distorting think tank agendas, unstable funding cycles, weak research-to-policy uptake, and the inherent difficulty of demonstrating policy influence. My core recommendation was for deliberate collaborative partnerships between universities and think tanks, combining universities’ methodological depth with think tanks’ policy proximity, all underpinned by expanded investment in Africa-led evaluation infrastructure and the growth of networks such as AfrEA and national VOPEs.  The joy of taking part in cutting the Cake to mark 25 years of UEA Keynote 2: Strengthening Evidence Systems for Uganda's National Development Plan (NDP)In the afternoon of Day 3, I attended a plenary that featured Keynote 2, titled "Strengthening Evidence Systems for Uganda's National Development Plan (NDP) IV," delivered under Strand 2: Evidence for NDP IV Implementation in the Kisakye Main Hall. The keynote was delivered by Dr. Winne Mukisa Nabiddo (Senior Manager, Research and Development Performance, National Planning Authority – NPA), with a panel comprising Mr. Julius Mukunda (Board Secretary and Executive Director, Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group – CSBAG), Ms. Neema Noel Kilembe(Assistant Director, Performance, M&E, Office of the Prime Minister, Tanzania), and Dr. Joy Asiimwe Turyamwijuka (Lecturer, Uganda Christian University – UCU), moderated by Mr. Benjamin Kachero (Senior Economist and Head M&E, Judiciary Uganda). The session examined the critical role of robust, institutionalised evidence systems in driving the successful implementation of Uganda's fourth National Development Plan, arguing that NDP IV can only deliver on its ambitious national transformation agenda if monitoring and evaluation are embedded not as compliance exercises but as genuine learning and decision-support mechanisms across all government ministries, departments, and agencies – with particular emphasis on strengthening linkages between data generation, budget performance tracking, and policy accountability at both national and sub-national levels.
Technical Session B: Trumpfication, Trumpformation and Impacts for AfricaOn the same Day 3, I was a presenter in a Technical Session on Governance, Learning & Accountability. This session was chaired by Ms. Noeline Gwokyalya, with other presenters in the strand including Ms. Jackline Musuya, who presented on: “Institutional Feedback Loops and Adaptive Management in M&E Practice: A Case Study of Water Mission Kenya”; and Dr. Josephine Watera who presented on: “Evaluating Parliamentary Performance for Accountability and Learning: Insights from the Legacy Report of Uganda’s 10th Parliament My presentation titled: “Trumpfication and Trumpformation of Development Aid and its Ramifications for Africa”, introduced two original conceptual categories to analyse the effects of US foreign aid retrenchment on African governance and evaluation systems. “Trumpfication” describes the restructuring of aid relationships around loyalty, strategic alignment, and ideological compatibility rather than development performance. “Trumpformation” captures the deeper institutional changes that follow: the transformation of governance structures, civil society ecosystems, and accountability frameworks in response to altered aid dynamics. Drawing on case evidence from Uganda, Kenya, and the Sahel, I documented measurable consequences including declining enforcement of democratic norms, shrinking civic space, weakened pressure for electoral reform, increased vulnerability of women’s rights and LGBTQ+ organisations, and growing authoritarian resilience. My methodological argument was that traditional results-based evaluation frameworks are structurally incapable of capturing these dynamics, and that what is needed are governance-sensitive, Africa-led approaches capable of tracking citizen voice, power relations, institutional resilience, and the enabling environment for civil society and independent media. I concluded with a call for Africa to diversify its development partnerships, strengthen domestic accountability systems, and build independent evaluation institutions capable of tracking political economy realities over time. EvalIndigenous Global Network DinnerThe last event of Day 3 was the EvalIndigenous Global Network Networking Dinner. I served as Co-Host and one of the principal speakers alongside Co-Convenor Mr. John T. Njovu (Zambia). The dinner was attended by 25 guests representing nine countries, including evaluation leaders, Young and Emerging Evaluator (YEE) representatives, and government officials. The programme featured: Welcome Remarks by Dr. Josephine Watera (UEA President); my address presenting the African Chapter’s history and five thematic areas; an Awards Ceremony honoured by Dr. Josephine Watera (UEA President); YEE Speeches by Mr. Alexander Kisioi Koech, Mr. Rinji Lekyes Kwarkas, Ms. Nurain Ahmed, and Mr. Solomon Michael Gitau Waiyego; a Keynote Reflection by EvalIndigenous Global Co-Chair Serge Eric Yakeu Djiam (Cameroon); and Closing Remarks by Prof. Almas Fortunatus Mazigo (Tanzania). Goodwill Messages were coordinated by Mr. Matthew Lubuulwa (Vice-President, AfrEA), who also served as the Master-of-the-Ceremony. The Awards Ceremony honoured those who have made great contributions to the work that has had great impacts on the portfolio of the EvalIndigenous Global Network, including the founders and current leadership as well as the Young and Emerging Evaluators.  Members of EvalIndigenous pose at the close of the Network Dinner in Kampala, Uganda
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