In September this year, Cabinet approved the National Broadband Policy. The number one objective the policy is to: “Avert duplication and wastage of resources in the provision of broadband among the key stakeholders in the ICT sector.”
The Minister of ICT Frank Tumwebaze explained in a news conference that the government was determined to build ducts on roadsides and make them accessible to private companies to lay their cables, as a means to bring an end to the endless damage to city infrastructure by numerous companies while laying data cables.
Hardly two months have passed since the high-sounding resolutions were made but facts on the ground indicate the same government is stuck to the same old habits.
The government recently contracted a company(s) to lay the cable to link the CCTV cameras across the city as well as along Entebbe road.
However, the contracted companies have dug up the city afresh, including the newly paved walkways by outgoing KCCA Executive Director Jennifer Musisi, undoing what had many people proud of the city.
The digging up of the streets and roadsides has become a constant feature in the city and a source of annoyance for property owners. The government’s failure to walk its talk on this issue, is a sad indicator of lack of accountability in the country. It is also a sign of the public’s failure to hold the government to account.
