Michael Richard Katagaya
Team leader, Evidence And Methods Lab
he, him
“I strongly believe that visualizing and sharing public finance data and laws can help citizens better understand government policy and advocate for the outcomes they need.”
Michael Richard Katagaya is a Ugandan social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder and team leader of Evidence And Methods Lab (EML) a civic-tech organisation that is promoting transparency, accountability and social justice in Uganda by simplifying, visualizing and sharing critical legal and public finance information. The organization has since inception visualized the national budgets, several land, family and property rights laws, reaching over a million Ugandans, mostly youth, through its online channels. It has contributed to an increase in the level of engagement in informed debate among youth on issues relating to public finance and laws as well highlighting the importance of data visualization and new media platforms in promoting social justice, transparency and accountability in Uganda.
Before co-founding EML, he worked with government and nonprofit organizations to design and implement measurement frameworks, as a learning, monitoring and evaluation expert, with keen interest in utilization of evidence for learning, public engagement and innovation.
Michael is currently a candidate of the African Civic Engagement Academy at the University of Georgia, supported by the US embassy, a training and networking program for African civic leaders.
Vision: Citizens have the power to improve the quality of government service delivery by meaningfully engaging with their elected officials—but this is hindered by a lack of public information delivery. Creative arts and digital channels can disseminate useful legal and public finance information to citizens to strengthen their voice in government.