UGANDA TO SPEND $377,000 ON MP`S IPADS
Posted on
Feb 26, 2013
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The Ugandan Parliament is to spend about $377,000 on iPad tablet computers for MPs.
Parliamentary officials say apart from bringing
MPs up to speed with evolution in technology, they hope to save money in
the long run by cutting on printing and other stationery expenses.
“They (iPads) would be Parliament property but
when someone uses one for five years you don’t expect it to be in shape
for use by another legislator for another five years,” commissioner
Elijah Okupa told the Daily Monitor.
“They will indirectly become their personal property because of depreciation,” he added.
Figures from Parliament show that the government
spent at least $12.1 million over the last two financial years on
computer supplies, printing, stationery, photocopying, binding, postage,
courier and other communication costs.
They hope to save money by moving to paper-less
operations in the House. For instance, any document from the Finance
ministry has to be photocopied into almost 400 copies for each MP and
other Parliament officials. These will now be e-mailed to the MPs
instead. “It is a necessary tool of work, and we need them as MPs so
that we avoid the amount of paper work which is always put in our pigeon
holes,” Busiro East MP Medard Segona (DP) told the Daily Monitor.
Many MPs are not familiar with the gadgets,
sources said, and the firm that will be contracted to supply them is
expected to receive a training contract as well. “We can mitigate these
costs and the only way is to use iPads now which are cheaper by the way
if only members are trained on how to use them,” Mr Segona said.
