Districts don't have websites

By Dan Nabutsabi

A special Cabinet meeting recently approved the creation of 20 new districts. This would bring the total to 132, if approved by Parliament. While the number of districts grows, the number of those with functioning sources of credible and timely information for the public is decreasing.

In July 2003, just over nine years, the Uganda Communications Commission, through the Rural Communications Development Fund, launched its first set of 20 district information websites. Uganda then, had 56 districts.

This was in a bid to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas.

The websites contained information on health, agriculture, education, programmes, environment and infrastructure.

In his speech, the then information state minister, Michael Werikhe said, “the challenge is for each district to continuously update their sites.”

However, reports indicate that 78 district websites were completed, commissioned and handed over to the respective local governments.

These are supposed to be accessed through www.(distr ictname) .go.ug. Unfortunately, less than 20 are functional, let alone having any usable information.

This has forced internet users to resort to the unoffi cial but more up to date blogs, Wikipedia and social networks for information updates, which undermines e-government efforts.

The case of Bududa District In 2007, 368 participants including CAOs, RDCs, LC5 chairpersons and information offi cers were facilitated for a two-day event at Soroti Hotel that culminated into the launch of 24 district websites.

Bududa district was among them. Unfortunately, like many others, it has not uploaded any information not even posted links to other government websites.

Samson Natsambwa, the assistant CAO, blames it on the high turnover of information officers.

“It is unfortunate that many civil servants posted to Bududa stay for a short time. Once they get better jobs, they quickly resign.”

But Lyazi says many rural ICT projects face many challenges, ranging from unpredictable or lack of grid power, low usage and high operating expenses. This has made ICT projects seem like an urban phenomenon.

But, Lyazi is still optimistic, saying: “We are working with the districts to get them to fully own and prioritise maintenance of their respective portals. I am confident that this position will soon change.”