President William Ruto has said the government is connecting fibre optics to all wards across the country to create digital hubs.This is aimed at ensuring young people get jobs in line with government’s plan to tackle unemployment.”Tumekubaliana ya kwamba kutumia digital superhighway ambayo ni sehemu ingine ya manifesto yetu. Saa hizi tunaendelea na kusambaza mambo ya fibre optic iende katika kila ward,” he said.(We have agreed that we will use digital superhighway which is part of our manifesto. We are currently connecting fibre optics to all wards.)Ruto was speaking on Friday during the UDA National Governing Council at Bomas of Kenya.The President said he had agreed with legislators on how they are going to come up with the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) hubs in every ward.Ruto said it was time MCAs were looped into the plan to ensure every ward gets access to the hub.”Nataka wewe MCA uanze kujipanga na mbunge wako (I want you MCA to start planning with your MP),” the President said.He said so far, the government has distributed some 22,000 computers to every TVET institution.Ruto noted that he and ICT CS Eliud Owalo visited some of the institutions to launch the digital superhighway projects.He added that the government has allocated some funds in the budget for ICT infrastructure.Regarding the plan for hubs in the wards, Ruto tasked MPs to construct them using the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).”Using CDF, our MPs will construct the building and we (government) will bring in the equipment,” he said.After the hubs are set up, Ruto said the government will ensure between 300 and 500 young people from every ward get computer training.It will also ensure their access to remote digital jobs.”We have already agreed with many international companies, I was at Silicon Valley in America, we assured Amazon, Intel and Google that we will get digital and remote jobs for our youth,” he said.”Because we must be deliberate, we must be intentional about creating job opportunities for the young people of our nation.”The President also said the State will use the ICT hubs to promote e-commerce and government services.
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-09-29-every-ward-will-have-an-ict-hub-ruto/
Every ward will have an ICT hub – Ruto
