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Juba, South Sudan | THE INDEPENDENT | Dr. Aminah Zawedde, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance of the Republic of Uganda has chaired a two-day Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIPs) regional meeting on the establishment of a Regional Owned and Operated Communication and Broadcasting Satellite.
The Juba meeting of Permanent secretaries responsible for the ICT Infrastructure Development Cluster under Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIPs) was called for at 14th Heads of State NCIP.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Lado Wani Kenyi, Undersecretary Telecommunication and Postal Services, Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Postal Services (MICT&PS) of the Republic of South Sudan, and representatives from the Member States of Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda.
Dr Zawedde, affirmed Uganda’s priority in undertaking digital transformation as provided in the National Development Plan among the top four priorities of; Agro-industrialization, Tourism development, Mineral development and Science and Technology plus ICT, commonly referred to as ATMS. She also reiterated Uganda’s relentless commitment to coordinate and monitor progress of implementation of the decisions and directives of the Heads of State of NCIPs.
A report of the Technical Committee on the establishment of a Regional Owned and Operated Communication and Broadcasting Satellite was shared at the meeting.
Those attending were receptive of the Satellite Project to be undertaken collaboratively and jointly within NCIP as a cost-effective venture that will also address the challenges related to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) access and connectivity to rural areas.
It was acknowledged that all existing regulatory frameworks of the Member States favor the establishment of the region owned satellite, and they remain flexible to accommodate any amendments if need arises. The meeting committed to finalize the roadmap for the establishment of satellite and eventual mobilization of funding for the feasibility study. The meeting also reviewed and assessed the progress on implementation framework of NCIPs, and explored collaborative approaches to address the underlying challenges.
At the sideline of the meetings, Uganda delegation paid a courtesy call to the Ambassador of Uganda to Juba. Ambassador Gen. Ronnie Balya and the delegation led by Dr. Zawedde acknowledged the collaboration of the Embassy and the Uganda MDAs on the areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The Northern Corridor is a transport corridor that links landlocked countries of Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo with Kenya’s Maritime Port of Mombasa.
