Former Ministry of Information, Communications and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo has shared his key accomplishments in the docket after being dismissed from his role, along with other CSs by President William Ruto on July 11.
In a statement on July 31, Owalo highlighted that under his leadership, the Ministry was declared the least corrupt by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
“Under my Leadership, MoICDE was declared by EACC as the least corrupt government Ministry,” read the statement in part.
He also pointed out that 17,668 government services were digitized within an 18-month period far exceeding the five-year target of 5,000.
Additionally, he highlighted that 274 digital hubs were established to create job opportunities for the youth, with 516,505 of them trained in digital skills and 152,711 digital jobs created.
Owalo Lists Key Accomplishments During His Tenure
To further enhance connectivity, Owalo said the ministry under his leadership set up 1,360 Wi-Fi hotspots across all the 47 counties and distributed 16,804 digital devices to digital hubs and educational institutions.
ICT ministry also managed to locally assemble 1.5 million affordable smart-enabled phones, selling 579,000 units so far at Ksh 7,500 each.
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Likewise, the former CS said the Open University of Kenya was launched in October 2023 with the aim of facilitating virtual learning and universal access to education.
3,289 students were enrolled at the newly established University situated in the Konza Technopolis for the virtual learning programme.
According to Owalo, the ministry also made strides in infrastructure by rolling out 10,219 kilometers of fiber optic cable, utilizing KPLC electricity transmission lines to streamline the process.
“Rolled out 10,219 of fiber optic and re-engineered the model to utilize KPLC electricity transmission lines to roll out the fibre as opposed to digging underground trenches.”
“This should enable us terminate fibre at each of the 74,000 KPLC transformers and eventually at each and every meter in the long run,” he said.
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Also, the former CS noted that Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) was restructured into an E-Commerce and Logistics Hub, while 1,018 audio-visual productions were supported under the KBC Studio Mashinani Programme.
Lastly, Owalo noted that over 94 ICT solution providers and innovators were engaged to collaborate on innovative solutions through the Konza Cloud.
A Sector Working Group was formed to review key policies, resulting in the approval of 20 Cabinet memos.
“Constituted Sector Working Group (SWG) to review Sectoral Policies, Laws and Regulations then presented to Cabinet and got approval of 20 Cabinet Memos.”
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