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{
    "id": 215603,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/215603/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 306,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Shitanda",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Housing",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 207,
        "legal_name": "Peter Soita Shitanda",
        "slug": "soita-shitanda"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am being informed by the Assistant Minister for Information and Communications that, in fact, it is 80 per cent and not 50 per cent. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I say so because when the school within Parliament was opened three years ago, I was among the first Members of Parliament to attend computer classes. I do remember very well that at any one given time, we were not more than ten Members of Parliament. I am happy that the honourable Mover of this Motion was one of the very first people who took advantage of the school. As we talk about these digital villages, the Ministry of Education should also liaise with the Ministry of Information and Communications in their efforts of trying to create these villages, maybe, through identifying one or two institutions in every constituency, which can be made centres for enhancing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) activities in those areas. It is true, we need electricity in most places for this kind of activity to go on, but, the Ministry of Information and Communications should not wait for the Ministry of Energy to connect electricity to all corners of the country. This is because we have many other sources of power like solar and wind. As the Ministry embarks on this programme, it should be looking at those alternatives also. Maybe, at some level, also, we can create these digital villages and then, let them remain unutilized or under-utilized. This is because of poverty levels in some areas, where the poor may look at these digital villages as creations of a privileged class. If this Motion is passed into law, the Ministry of Information and Communications needs to go out there and carry out workshops and seminars, to educate people on the importance of ICT. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to finish by saying that, as we talk about the creation of digital villages, we should also look at those areas where literacy levels are very low, so that through the Ministry of Education, we can also harmonize the efforts of addressing illiteracy, together with ICT diversification in those areas. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}