Will laptop replace briefcase in the next Budget Day speech?

By Kenfrey Kiberenge

Picture this: Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta walks into Parliament on Budget Day and instead of carrying the usual briefcase with a coat of arms, he has a new black bag with an HP label on it.

Facebook user Dennis Itumbi put up an interesting update that ignited a debate among his friends: "Uhuru should lose the boring briefcase and hardcopy speech and replace them with an iPad or a laptop and a projector."

The latter is what is commonly known as a PowerPoint presentation.

He went on to recommend that if Uhuru, who doubles up as the Deputy Prime Minister, would be more comfortable reading the speech alone, and then an iPad would come in handy.

In PowerPoint presentation, information is relayed to a bigger screen from a laptop via a projector where a large audience is being addressed, in our case Members of Parliament.

An Ipad and a laptop

Navigate pages

The iPad on the other hand is designed to be controlled by bare fingers to navigate from one page to another.

In Kenya, an iPad or a Samsung galaxy tab goes for an average of Sh75,000 depending on the specifications. On the other hand, one can get a laptop from as low as Sh11,000. However, the Finance minister would require a model with high processing speed to avoid embarrassments brought about by hanging computers.

Unless he chooses not to vie for a political seat next year, Uhuru has two years to prove that he is technological-savvy.

George Njoroge, the Managing Director and an IT expert at East African Data Handlers argues that the day a Kenyan Finance minister presents Budget estimates using a laptop will mark a milestone in the technology sector. "It would mean technology has come of age. It would make even the commoners understand what the minister is presenting more easily," said Mr Njoroge.

Mr Munyori Buku, the director of communications at the Office of Deputy Prime Minister, said a PowerPoint presentation or an iPad would not trouble the incumbent Finance Minister, Uhuru.

Technology savvy

"The boss is very information technology-savvy. He has a personal iPad which he travels with, he is on Facebook and Twitter where he updates personally," said Mr Buku.

Finance Minister Uhuru Kenya poses for a picture before proceeding to Parliament to make a Budget Speech. [PHOTO: FILE]

The minister also employed teleprompting technology in the run-up to the last General Election during Kanu delegates conference at Kasarani, leaving many Kenyans assuming that he gave the speech off-the cuff.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka also used the technique.

Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi says this an era of serious technological advancements and such a scenario should not be farfetched.

"In fact, making a PowerPoint presentation would be more understandable than those papers they carry," said Mr Linturi.

He added that members would have an opportunity to go through the speech together with the minister and this would make it livelier.

Many benefits

Mr Njoroge said on the Budget Day, what the minister makes is more of a PowerPoint presentation than a speech.

Said he: "When he says the Government will build a road in a certain part of the country, then that can be reinforced with an image. When he says the economy has grown over a certain period of time, then he can use a graph. There are many benefits of making a PowerPoint presentation," said Mr Njoroge.