MPs want ICT ministry to address internet access concerns

Members of Parliament have said that the Ministry of ICT and Innovation should put more effort into setting up ICT infrastructures and building skills for citizens to make use of them in order to address the identified challenges. They made the request on Thursday, April 21, 2022 during a Plenary Sitting of the Chamber of Deputies. The Session approved the Committee on Political Affairs and Gender’s assessment of the 2020/2021 activity report of the Rwanda Governance (RGB). The Committee said that during the talks it held with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of ICT and Innovation ( MINICT), Yves Iradukunda, he told its members that internet penetration rate was about 66 percent countrywide as of September 2021. However, lawmakers said that, through the RGB report, it was realised that the internet was not accessible by many citizens as 59.1 percent expressed that they do not know about it. Also, they indicated that only 22 percent of people expressed internet satisfaction. He said that there is a need to find out why only 22 percent of people are satisfied with the internet, while internet connectivity nationwide is at 66 percent. MP Elisabeth Mukamana, the vice chairperson of the Committee on Political Affairs and Gender said that MINICT should show the Parliament strategies to encourage citizens to use ICT and enhance their knowledge in this regard. This, she said, is intended to increase the rate of people who utilise ICT and achieve the target set under the first phase of the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) which covers the 2017-2024 period. Also, she said the Ministry should improve collaboration with its partners so that all services that the citizens need be offered online. MP Gamariel Mbonimana said there is a need to find out why only 22 percent of people are satisfied with the internet, while internet connectivity nationwide is at 66 percent. MP Francis Karemera said that, though citizens should be encouraged or trained to better use ICT, focus should also be put on making sure the needed infrastructures or tools are in place. For him, the internet satisfaction rate among Rwandans suggests that a large percentage of them are not accessing it [adequately]. He expressed concern that internet connectivity has not been taken to all local administrative entities such as cells, schools, and trading centres so that they host training [of people in ICT]. “There is a need to provide [more] ICT infrastructures to the citizens, and then train them on how to make use of them effectively,” he said, adding that such infrastructures should be available in [all] schools. “This [training people in the use of ICT without enabling infrastructures] is like learning computer science without having even seen a computer,” he said. However, MP Mukamana said that even in some areas where such infrastructures are available, there are citizens who have not yet utilised them because of ICT illiteracy, indicating that this is mainly the case in the rural parts of the country. “Our resolution is that there should be training and sensitisation of citizens where such internet infrastructures have been installed, to take advantage of them sufficiently,” she said. Towards a knowledge-based economy Under the Vision 2020, Mukamana said, Rwandan targets to achieve a knowledge-based economy, pointing out that this calls for skilling the country’s citizens in ICT. The Ministry, she said, should explain the available plans towards the achievement of that ambition. According to information from the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, the country seeks to ensure digital literacy for all youth (16 to 30 years) and at least 60 per cent among adults by 2024 under NST1. As of 2019, digital literacy stands at 12 per cent. One of the strategies to attain that is the Digital Ambassadors Programme that was initiated in 2017/2018 and is expected to come to an end in 2024, with total investment of Rwf5 billion on the part of the Government. This five-year initiative, which aims at narrowing the digital divide and increasing citizens’ digital literacy, targets to build the digital skills of 5 million citizens by 2024. However, this initiative has been facing funding deficits, which threatens its effective implementation.

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MPs want ICT ministry to address internet access concerns