Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has handed over the 60247 tablets, chargers, and power banks to the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology, formerly used during the National Population and Housing Census 2024.
The handover was done at a function held at UBOS stores in Ntinda.
During the handover ceremony, UBOS Executive Director Chris Mukiza said the released gadgets were repurposed to strengthen Parish Development Model (PDM) activities and distributed to selected government agencies for further use.
Mukiza highlighted that of the 60,247 tablets, 36,000 will be dispatched to the electoral commission, 21,434 tablets to the parish development model (PDM), whereas 1,496 tablets will be dispatched to sub-county community development officers (CDOs), 580 tablets to town council CDOs, 25 tablets to city division CDOs, 181 to district IT officers LCs, 181 statisticians (local government), and 350 to Operation Wealth Creation (OWC).
He emphasized the importance of technology in streamlining election preparation ahead of Uganda’s general election in 2026, ensuring efficiency and accuracy.
‘‘These tablets were not procured solely for the census but are meant to serve other critical government functions, ensuring their long-term value to the country, thus enabling government agencies to make informed decisions,” he said.
The permanent secretary, Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, Aminah Zawedde, stated that this initiative highlights the government’s commitment to enhance efficiency, coordination, and service delivery across the country.
She said the other tablets to be used for collecting data for the Parish Development Model program will also help the government in the implementation of this program, addressing concerns about limited devices for data collection at the community level.
“We had already got concerns by people at the parish level that they don’t have enough devices to carry out data collection and register beneficiaries for PDM. Now that we have these devices, it is going to make work easy since we will be collecting data in real time and be able to make informed decisions in time,” Mukiza said.
The handover ceremony ended with a wake-up call to all government agencies to constantly collaborate to maximize resource sharing for better service delivery.
