President Yoweri Museveni has\nlaunched phase four of the internet connectivity project for West Nile and\nKaramoja. The ceremony took place at St Charles Lwanga Secondary School grounds\nin Koboko district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Information\nTechnology, Uganda (NITA-U), with funding from the World Bank, contracted\nHuawei technology to build this phase of the national backbone infrastructure\nand e-government infrastructure project (NBI\/EGI) to connect districts and\ntowns across the country. This is the continuity of Phases 1-3 which were\nfunded by China’s EXIM Bank between 2007 and 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the start of Phase Four,\nthe districts of Pakwach, Nebbi, Arua, Yumbe, Koboko, Adjumani, Katakwi and the\nborder points of Oraba, Vurra and Mpondwe will improve access, reliability and\ncompetiveness of broadband services both domestically and regionally. It will\nalso provide the new international connections to neighboring countries\nincluding South Sudan and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as well as\nhelping position Uganda as a regional communication hub and bring public\nservices closer to people, with 100 government offices in the areas of West\nNile and Karamoja to be connected. After this phase, Phase V will make Uganda\nfully connected to fast and cheaper internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Museveni, who was\nreceived by jubilating and cheering massive crowds and NRM supporters, said it\nwas important for West Nile to have underground Internet cables because the\nfacility would make work faster, efficient and easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese computers that work\nlike human brains need to be connected by underground cables. We already did\nthis in Kampala. We need to have the same done for West Nile. This is very\nimportant because it will help auditors and accountants get international jobs\nwithout moving to other countries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The President also observed\nthat connecting underground cables would make learning in schools easier and\nlessen the burden of parents buying books for their children since they would\njust connect and search from the computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The President also noted that\nwhile the government was playing its role of development in West Nile Region,\nit was incumbent on the people to create wealth for themselves in their\nhomesteads, a role that would in turn lead to creating jobs for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He reiterated that creating\njobs in Public Service cannot cater for all the people in Uganda and hence the\nnecessity of starting projects that create wealth for them and help others to\nget employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe total number of\ngovernment jobs is 490,000 yet the population of Uganda is 41 million people.\nIt means the government jobs can only cater for 2.8 million,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister of ICT and National\nGuidance, Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, thanked the World Bank and Huawei Company for\nconnecting West Nile and Karamoja. He noted that the project had not only\nbrought about connectivity but also employment opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NitaU’s spokesman Steven\nKirenga says phase four is connecting another 1100 new government locations by\nthe end of the next financial year. “We already have 414 government\nconnections on the internet, including local governments and other government\noffices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Kirenga said the\ncontractor Huawei are a global contractor with extensive experience and\nexpertise in such work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said phase four which ends\nin 20 months\u2019 time, will be done professionally and competently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that it will also\nenhance and make URA and immigration work at border points of Mpondwe and Vvura\nfaster and more efficient<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Yoweri Museveni has launched phase four of the internet connectivity project for West Nile and Karamoja. The ceremony took place at St Charles Lwanga Secondary School grounds in Koboko district. The National Information Technology, Uganda (NITA-U), with funding from the World Bank, contracted Huawei technology to build this phase of the national backbone infrastructure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":9392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech"],"yoast_head":"\n