NITA to extend internet to refugee hosting communities

The move, according to Hatwib Mugasa, Executive Director of NITA-Uganda, intends to promote digital inclusion in the 12 districts receiving refugees.

"We plan to put up 80 mobile broadband masts, buy more bandwidth, build a telecenter for refugee-hosting communities, set up an e-waste management centre, and expand Wi-Fi hotspot sites," Mugasa said.

Mugasa made this disclosure on Wednesday when testifying before the Parliamentary Committee on ICT and National Guidance.

He stated that the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is pleased with the government's refugee protection mechanism.

To support the success of the UDAP initiative, the last-mile connection project has connected 53 district headquarters to the national backbone infrastructure (NBI).

Another 61 local government sites are now linked.

The member of parliament (MP) for Mawogola South, Gorreth Namugga, chastised NITA-U for its impact on improving government e-services.

"What is the source of local governments' complaints about the system turning on and off?" The infrastructure exists, but I doubt it meets your expectations," Namugga remarked.

Collin Babirukamu, NITA-U's Director for E-Government, stated that the authority is offering a platform for integrating the various technologies utilised at administrative centres.

He said that lowering the unit cost of a smartphone on the market will increase access to e-government services.

"We still have taxes on these smartphones that prevent people from using e-government." "We want to have all of these services on a phone so that people can get a passport or a driver's licence on their phones," Babirukamu explained.

Legislators, on the other hand, raised concern over the security of Uganda's internet backbone system.

The Mityana District Woman Representative, Joyce Bagala, was unconvinced by an NITA-U report that showed cyber threat awareness at 87%.

"Is awareness truly at this level?" Because if it were, the situation with troubles that occur online would not exist. There may be awareness, but your figure does not convince me," Bagala remarked.

NITA-U's Director for Planning, Research, and Development, Richard Obita, stated that they have made concerted attempts to educate the public about cyber security.

"We hired a firm to do an independent assessment on awareness of cyber threats as a requirement by the World Bank. This project was done across the country, and we will share an analysis of the target respondents," Obita added.