Wednesday 31 July 2013

PROMOTING ICT FOR DEMOCRACY IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN KASESE



By; Mumbere Samuel

     E-Society Kasese


Since June 2011, Kasese District through the E-Society Resource Centre has been a beneficiary of iParticipate Uganda, a project aimed at enhancing the use of ICT in civic participation and monitoring service delivery in Uganda. Spearheaded by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), iParticipate Uganda is part of the wider ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network a consortium of organizations premised on the recognition that ICTs have the potential to increase citizen’s participation in decision making processes, thus strengthening democratization.
This was observed during the ICT4Democracy in East Africa Uganda National partner’s conference that was help at Kati Kati Restaurant in Kampala in which Kasese E-Society took part on 25.07.2013 . The Conference was organized by CIPESA in collaboration with the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), Transparency International Uganda and Toro Development Network (ToreDev).

Hon. Bagiire presenting to the conference participants
   



The conference was officiated by the Vice Chairperson ICT parliamentary committee Hon. Bagiire Vincent. In his opening remarks, the honorable appreciated the work Civil Society has done at grass root level in promoting ICT use.  Pointing to the laying of the National fiber backbone, the digital migration exercise and efforts to increase funding of the ICT ministry, Hon. Bagire noted that efforts to extend ICTs to all parts of the country are high on the government agenda.
CIPESA project Officer Ms. Ashna presenting