DOKOLO NORTH MP PAUL AMORU APPOINTED NEW PARLIAMENT ICT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

By Our Reporter Dokolo North Member of Parliament Mr. Paul Amoru is the new Chairman of the now important Parliament- Information, Communication and Technology ,(ICT) Committee. The committee over-sees government’s activities in the ICT sector which is headed by Minister Judith Nabakooba. The new appointment was announced by the Government Chief Whip, Ruth Nankabirwa, who dropped Tororo North MP Annet Nyakecho, who has chaired the committee for three years. At the beginning of a new Parliament session , 16 Sectoral Committees get new leaders who are appointed by the various Chief Whips of political parties represented in Parliament. Amoru will be deputised by the Luweero Woman MP, Eng. Lillian Nakate. Government very supportive of the ICT sector  The NRM leadership, President Museveni in particular, has been very supportive of the development of the ICT sector which led to the establishment of a fully fledged ministry with  oversight mandate to implement national ICT policies for  the most important state and non-state actors including the telecoms and the broadcasters. The government has also been supporting and continues to support innovations under the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MoSTI) led by Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye. Already Uganda is realising the benefits of some of this national investment with Kiira Motors the country’s Automotive Industry Champion ,producing two fully eclectic executive buses . But despite the massive investment government has made in the ICT sector, it is still characterized by widespread disconnectivity, rendering the investments largely non-beneficial to the people and to the economy. Achieving that connectivity, to allow the scattered databases start talking to one another is the most urgent step that the government has to take. It is therefore , expected that the new minister,  Judith Nabakooba working together with the ICT Chairman, Paul Amoru ,both veteran journalists and NRM members can make the ICT sector a key government driver for economic growth and national development . Already , government through the Ministry of Information  Communication  Technology (ICT) and National Guidance (NG)   procured the services of several television, radio stations  and online media publishers-practitioners in a bold move that has bolster public awareness against the novel Covid-19 pandemic limiting the infection levels to the bare minimum  across the country.