How Aminah Zawedde reshaped Uganda’s digital government

Millions of Ugandans may never know her name, yet they are increasingly using government systems developed during her tenure.

A trader can now register a business in about three hours instead of waiting up to 15 days. More than 11 million learners are captured in a digital schools register, while millions of beneficiaries have received Parish Development Model funds through a system designed to track public money.

Behind these changes is Dr Aminah Zawedde, the software engineer who spent five years as permanent secretary at the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance. Now redeployed to the Office of the Prime Minister, she leaves behind more than new technology.

Her tenure helped reshape how government serves citizens, supports businesses and creates opportunities for young innovators. The question is whether those gains will endure after her departure.

On November 9, President Yoweri Museveni redeployed Zawedde to the Office of the Prime Minister, where she will oversee coordination, and appointed Prof Stephen Akandwanaho to succeed her.

Her departure has prompted reflection on a tenure during which Uganda expanded its digital infrastructure, introduced new government information systems and pursued opportunities for young people in the technology sector.

But beyond the impressive figures lies a more important question: how much of this investment has made government more efficient, created employment and improved everyday life?

Opening doors for young innovators

Zawedde has repeatedly argued that Uganda’s digital future depends on opportunities for its young population.

“Investing in Uganda’s youth is investing in the country’s future,” she has said.

Between 2022 and 2024, three national ICT job fairs presented young Ugandans with more than 11,000 job openings, internships and training opportunities. These were opportunities advertised or offered, rather than 11,000 confirmed jobs. Nevertheless, they helped connect young people with employers and training institutions.

MTN innovation hub at Busitema University

The ministry also reports that more than 160,000 citizens and small businesses received digital skills training. A solar-powered mobile classroom travelled to 58 locations across more than 25 districts, training 8,192 people. Nearly 43 per cent were young women.

Bringing digital education closer to home can reduce the cost of acquiring skills for communities without reliable access to computers and training centres.

More than 1,230 refugees and members of their host communities also received training, with 619 certified last year.

The ministry extended training to government employees. The Uganda Institute of ICT trained 5,587 officers, while 843 completed a national artificial intelligence programme during the last financial year.

Another 6,000 officials, students and ICT professionals received certification through a partnership involving the International Telecommunication Union and China, which concluded in March 2025.

Zawedde also launched a national outsourcing policy in February 2025, targeting 150,000 jobs by 2030. Outsourcing allows Ugandan companies and workers to provide services to clients elsewhere, potentially earning foreign income without leaving the country.

The target remains an ambition rather than an achieved employment figure.

Taking innovation beyond Kampala

Young Ugandans seeking technology training, business support or investors faced a familiar disadvantage. For years, many opportunities were concentrated in Kampala.

Under Zawedde’s leadership, the ministry expanded innovation facilities into other regions. The National ICT Innovation Hub at Nakawa reopened in January 2024 following reconstruction supported by the United Nations Development Programme.

Other hubs opened at Kabale in June 2023 and Soroti in March 2024, with additional facilities established at Muni and Busitema universities.

The ministry reports that the national hub supported 133 start-ups, helped bring 102 products to market and contributed to 726 verified jobs over four years.

These figures, although presented as verified by the ministry, have not been independently audited in the source material.

At Busitema in September, Zawedde said the hubs “equip young people with the skills and support needed to innovate, create jobs, and contribute meaningfully to the digital economy”.

Their longer-term success will depend on whether supported businesses survive, attract customers and create sustainable employment.

Another less visible reform addressed the careers of government technology professionals.

In 2023, schemes of service were introduced for information technology and communications personnel, establishing clearer professional grades and career progression.

Previously, technical officers could enter government service without a well-defined route to promotion.

The reform matters because retaining skilled engineers and software specialists is essential if government intends to maintain increasingly complex digital systems.

Making business easier

One of the most tangible changes came through the Uganda Registration Services Bureau.

Its online business registration system became operational in December 2022. According to figures in the ministry’s account, registration time fell from 10–15 days to approximately three hours.

Since its introduction, 279,567 businesses have reportedly registered through the system. URSB also collected Shs 71.81 billion in non-tax revenue through it during one financial year.

Faster registration can reduce repeated journeys to government offices for entrepreneurs and the delays associated with establishing a formal business. Ugandan technology companies also gained a potential opening in public procurement.

In June 2026, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority accredited the ministry’s innovator selection process, creating a mechanism through which registered local innovators could compete for government software work.

This could help smaller Ugandan firms access contracts that might otherwise be difficult to secure. Intellectual property protection also received attention. Guidelines were introduced in 2025, while URSB recorded 3,295 intellectual property filings and grants during the 2024/25 financial year. Copyright registrations increased by 43 per cent.

Such protections matter to developers and entrepreneurs seeking to benefit commercially from their inventions, software and creative work.

Uganda’s outsourcing ambitions have also attracted international attention. The country was reported to rank 24th among 193 countries in the 2026 Global Outsourcing Talent Index, second in East Africa behind Kenya.

Through a project supported by Japan, Ugandan firms including Maarifasasa and Sumic IT Solutions reportedly secured paid contracts with Japanese clients.

Building a digital government

Perhaps Zawedde’s most consequential work involved systems that citizens may use without knowing who helped introduce them. When she became permanent secretary in July 2021, the ministry counted nine national digital systems. It now reports 43.

Among them is the Parish Development Model register, which checks beneficiaries against national identification records and tracks payments.

According to Ministry of Finance figures published in September, the system had supported payments to 3,571,108 beneficiaries, involving Shs 4.317 trillion through the Parish Revolving Fund.

The technology provides a means of checking records and following disbursements. It does not, by itself, establish whether every beneficiary received the intended economic benefits.

Another major intervention involved education. A schools information system dating from 1999 was replaced with a register covering more than 11 million learners and 145,000 staff across all 178 local governments.

In Ibanda district, a comparison of records reportedly identified 105 closed schools that remained on existing lists. Accurate records can help government plan staffing, allocate resources and identify inconsistencies that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Thirty-eight government entities also adopted a records management system that government personnel can maintain.

The ministry says these major systems were developed by Ugandan companies, with government retaining ownership of the software code.

That distinction is important. Owning the code can reduce dependence on external suppliers for maintenance, upgrades and licence renewals.

In May 2026, Zawedde launched a Government Digital Registry that identified approximately 743 systems and 489 business processes across 154 public entities.

The exercise provided a clearer picture of the technology government already operates.

Infrastructure, policy and leadership

Digital transformation also requires affordable connectivity. During Zawedde’s tenure, the reported price the government paid for internet connectivity fell from $70 to $35 per megabit per month.

The national fibre-optic backbone expanded to 5,266 kilometres, connecting 1,682 government sites. Starlink was licensed in May 2026, potentially widening connectivity options in areas where fibre infrastructure remains limited.

The ministry’s programme budget also increased from approximately Shs 104 billion in 2022/23 to Shs 490 billion in the current financial year.

That expansion signals greater investment, although spending increases alone cannot establish whether resources have been used efficiently.

The policy framework developed alongside the infrastructure. Uganda launched its Digital Transformation Roadmap in August 2023, later incorporating digital transformation into the fourth National Development Plan.

Cabinet approved the National Communication Policy in March 2026, while the National Data Strategy followed on October 20.

At the strategy’s launch, Zawedde offered a warning particularly relevant to Uganda’s growing interest in artificial intelligence.

“Artificial intelligence is only as intelligent and ethical as the data that feeds it.”

Her concern extended to misinformation and the changing media environment.

At a World News Day editors’ breakfast in Kampala on September 28, she observed: “Technology is really running so fast beyond our imagination.”

“News is running faster than reality, and then you don’t know what is factual and what is not.”

She advocated dialogue between government, editors and regulators about the definition and regulation of journalism.

“It’s high time we went down and sat at the table to clearly define this, so that we are all speaking the same language.”

Under the national guidance function, 200 government communicators received training in August 2025, while 197 laptops were distributed to district communication officers. A 24-hour media monitoring unit also opened at the Uganda Media Centre in 2026.

The legacy and unfinished work

Zawedde brought an unusual professional background to the permanent secretary’s office.

Before her appointment, she spent 15 years teaching and researching at Makerere University’s School of Computing and Informatics Technology.

She earned a PhD in software engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology in 2016 and previously served on the National Information Technology Authority-Uganda board, chairing its Digital Transformation Committee.

Her work received national and international recognition. President Museveni decorated her for distinguished service in ICT during Labour Day celebrations in Namutumba on May 1, 2023. She was named among Africa’s top 45 women in digital transformation in 2025 and received the ABETO Peace Award in 2026.

Outside government, she has belonged to the Rotary Club of Kampala Maisha since 2017, supporting community initiatives in Ntenjeru, Mukono. She also chairs the board of a non-profit primary school in Wakiso.

At 48, she moves to a role requiring coordination across government institutions.

Her record at ICT must also be understood within the limits of a permanent secretary’s authority. Ministers and Cabinet determine policy, while agencies and other government institutions implement many of the programmes.

The achievements therefore reflect collective institutional work, even where Zawedde provided administrative and technical leadership.

For her successor, Prof Akandwanaho, the challenge is to sustain the systems already introduced while demonstrating their long-term value.

Uganda must establish whether digital training produces lasting employment, whether innovation hubs create commercially successful companies and whether electronic government systems reduce waste and improve services.

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