Busia, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Judith Nabakooba, the Minister of information and communication technology-ICT spent part of Friday inspecting the communication networks at Busia One Stop Boarder Post-OSBP. The minister’s visit was prompted by complaints from area leaders about the poor network in Busia resulting from interference from other networks.
In 2012, the government of Uganda embraced ICT as one of the key strategies of enhancing social economic transformation of the country, improve effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery. However, Nabakooba says that they have received several complaints about the poor network. She explains that since Busia comes next to Entebbe airport because of the huge volume of business, she couldn’t ignore the complaints.
The minister told journalists that the interference in the communication network isn’t only bad for business but is also a security threat to the area. She promised to relay the challenges to the telecom regulator, the Uganda Communication Commission-UCC for quick intervention.
Geoffrey Wandera, the Busia district LC V chairperson, says there is interference in the network from other Networks like Safaricom in the neighbouring Kenya. He said the interference slows down work in their offices and affects the payment of civil servants because they sometimes spend an entire week without a network in the area.
Amstrong Turyagenda, the Uganda Revenue Authority-URA Super visor Busia branch, says that technology has helped improve their work to an extent that they can clear over 100 trucks in just an hour but also stay in touch with their head offices compared to the past when it could take them almost 30 minutes to clear a single truck.
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