{UAH} Either MPs’ Shs I billion ipads ‘don’t work’ OR the are iPad-illiterate

MPs' Shs I billion ipads 'don't work'

News

TUESDAY, 21 JANUARY 2014 23:40

WRITTEN BY DEO WALUSIMBI

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Paper world: MPs such as these will need papers a little more

Almost four hundred ipads acquired at about Shs 1bn to ease MPs' workloads and reduce Parliament's expenditure are not functioning beyond the confines of the House.

MPs said on Monday that the 375 ipads can only be used within the precincts of Parliament.

In defending their procurement, the speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, had said that the ipads would help the House save on the annual expense on stationery and usher MPs into the digital world.

However, as the Public Accounts committee on Monday met the Parliamentary Commission, which handled the procurement, complaints emerged to the effect that the ipads were not functioning as expected.

Committee chairman Kassiano Wadri said contrary to assurances by Kadaga, MPs had not been able to access all parliamentary information on their gadgets.

"I have got your ipad but I kept it because the MTN line does not measure up," said Wadri.

In response, Clerk to Parliament Jane Kibirige blamed the service provider.

"We are facing a problem because when we awarded the contract to MTN, we thought they [would] provide the service as we expected," said Kibirige, adding that some House activities such as committee and plenary sessions were never meant to be accessible to MPs through the ipads.

"We wanted MPs to access services wherever they are, but they [MTN] later told us that they [would] be able to provide the services to MPs only within the precincts of Parliament, beyond that … they switched off services on December 31, 2013," Kibirige said.

Asked to comment on the accusation, Justina Ntabgoba Kayemba, the Senior MTN Uganda Manager for Corporate Affairs, said: "We presented a bid to Parliament to provide connectivity for Members of Parliament.

"In addition to providing this service, we offered Parliament free WIFI for internet surfing at the offices for six months and the individual MPs were to purchase internet bundles for their own private internet requirements."

She added: "All the above would allow Parliament to get a secure service for official communication and also personal intervention for internet surfing where necessary."

Ntabgoba further said the necessary infrastructure had been installed to support this service.

"We have not, however, received official communication from the Clerk of Parliament or their IT team to switch on this service to date," she explained.

Parliament's contracts committee awarded M/s Elite Computers (U) Ltd the contract to supply the ipads at a cost of Shs 976.6 million last year.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower