Uganda's Rural ICT Policy Framework

This chapter investigates the Ugandan ICT policy approach to promoting access to and the empowerment of the poor majority, remote and “under-accessed” communities in Uganda. The chapter highlights the strengths of the policy framework while at the same time draws attention to it’s weaknesses. For instance, while the chapter acknowledges the fact that the ICT policy framework recognises and has pursued strategic approaches to expanding access to remote areas, a closer scrutiny indicates disparities that may delimit its pragmatism. These disparities, it is argued, mainly emanate from the fact that the policy framework is not entirely holistic nor forwardlooking in its outlook, not only because the processes (of policy making) left out the rural users, it also fails to address the gender dynamics and most urgently, the media convergencies notably between broadcasting and telecommunication. In addition to divorcing itself from political and democratic aspects imperative for development, the policy framework seems shorthanded on sustainability fundamentals that are conjectured to restrict its propitiousness at the grassroots.