The outcomes of the Overall Judge decisions and public voting process__ currently open__ will spike awards of excellence for all Gov’t MDAs that successfully exhibited digital products during the eGovernance expo yesterday.

Among the Judges selected to take charge of the upcoming NITA-U eGovernment awards include CK Japheth__the Innovation village founder, Dr Agnes Rwashana and Mathias Katamba as he chief scrutineers of the upcoming eGovernment excellence awards.

The eGovernment excellence awards judges

• CK Japheth
• Dr Agnes Rwashana
• Mathias Katamba

The selected judges will announce results from both the public voting process and an overall digest of how the MDA solutions perform inline with excellent service execution in Uganda.

While the awards are slated for June 29th 2019. The Judges who embarked on a review journey during the NITA-U eGovernance Expo will take on a full week of system per system digest to deeply switch with the best Government systems that seemingly provide efficient services in a digital generation.

Over the weekend, NITA-U fulfilled its promise to the WestNile wing of the country by introducing the 4th phase of the National Backbone Internet project covering areas of Pakawach, Nebbi, Arua, Yumbe, Koboko, Adjumani, Katakwi plus the Uganda-SouthSudan / DRC border points of Oraba, Vurra and Mpondwe.

The 4th phase of the NBI project will not only connect the Northern districts and towns but also provide new International connections to neighboring countries with SouthSudan lying in the North and DRC sharing the eastern wing. In Simple terms, Phase IV is strictly tied to the Westnile Region as NITA-U further spread its e-services legion with free connections and web services for Government offices.

Though the NITA backbone Internet coverage favored the central and Western areas where the free WiFi via the MYUG SSID is a popular norm riding on the complete dd phase 1,2&3 lane. The planned phase IV coverage further stretches to the Karamoja region and preaching all the NITA-U services catalog a notch higher on the National Backbone.

However, does this mean Internet service providers will crawl and lower connection prices in return since a national backbone connection is available? It will be a matter of time once NITA-U succeeds in connecting all country towns and districts to the grid with more planned phases covering the greater West and East zones.

Well, In case you have always searched for a zone you can sniff free internet from, then riding on a free MYUG hotspot could be your ultimate chance to taste unbeatable internet speeds at no cost. With over 284 zones pumping the MYUG SSID out loud, here is the complete list of all locations you need to know for free Wi-Fi access without worrying about any Momo Pay or Airtel Pay approvals thereafter.

MYUG Free Wi-Fi locations

Though the question of full 4G internet access came to a close when Airtel widened its coverage map with other telcos also following the path. The query of free Wi-Fi is still drizzling in the veins of netizens with only MYUG hotspots pumping the no-cost feel in areas close the coverage zones.

More so, for the fact that NITA’s free service is limited to specific landmarks with most areas in Kampala having no feel of the hotspots but instead the central business district occupying the iced share of the cake. It becomes factual that free Wi-Fi in Uganda still has posses low demand as the roadblock towards a 100% achievement.

Hence, with Rokespot broadcasting in some areas like Mbarara where MYUG has not tasted the milky winds, the question of free Wi-Fi access might have new solutions in the near future only if the demand rises up to meet the required standards even with NITA already providing free access to every citizen.

All in all, whenever you bump into any MYUG zone, simply connect to the hotspot for free access by registering your email ID and keeping in line with the surfing hours capped to the service. As a matter of fact, MYUG is one of the best hotspots you can ride with for cheetah speeds, and connecting to one saves you from the burden of spending a 200/= OTT tax coin.

On the contrary, UCC was retained as a separate agency overseeing the ICT & media regulations unlike the story with NITA & NIRA. Henceforth, this means that the process of renewing or getting a new national ID will require you to visit the ministry headquarters as the story is with passports.

Agencies dissolved back to their respective ministries

Among the several bodies absorbed back to their respective ministries, NIRA & NITA will now be under the Internal affairs ministry and ICT respectively. While the electricity regulation authority previously increased the price of electricity by a slight margin. Umeme will now implement policies from one joint power outfit to be created soon as URSB now reverts to the ministry of justice in a compiled list of retained and absorbed agencies.

Dissolved agencies

• Uganda National Roads Authority
• Uganda Road Fund
• Uganda Railways Corporation
• Transport Licensing Board
• Uganda Registration Services Bureau
• Uganda Electricity Generation Co Limited
• Uganda Electricity Transmission Co Limited
• Uganda Electricity Distribution Co Limited
• Rural Electrification Agency
• Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board
• Departed Asians Properties Custodian Board
• National Agricultural Advisory Services Org
• Uganda Trypanosomiasis Control Council
• Dairy Development Authority
• Uganda Coffee Development Authority
• Cotton Development Organisation
• National Identification & Reg Authority NGO Bureau
• National Information Technology Authority
• Uganda Aids Commission
• National Drug Authority
• Uganda Blood Transfusion Services
• Uganda Industrial Research Institute
• Uganda National Council for Scie & Tech
• Uganda Land Commission

RETAINED

• Kampala Capital City Authority
• Uganda Communication Commission
• Uganda National Bureau of Standards
• Uganda Bureau of Statistics
• National Medical Stores