POTRAZ Supports E-Government Policy

By Faith Chimutsa

In an effort to support the E-Government flagship program, Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Hon. Dr Jenfan Muswere has handed over a total of 160 computers to the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare in the capital on Wednesday.

Speaking at the handover ceremony of the computers, POTRAZ Director General Dr Gift Machengete said as the nerve centre of government, the Ministry of Public Service will deploy the computers to their Electronic case management system, Labour market information system, Registration and placement system and for the creation of an electronic database.

The computers will also be used to improve on inspections and dispute resolution among other functions by the Ministry.

He added that apart from the Ministry of Public Service, the Authority has also donated computers and connectivity to the Zimbabwe Republic Police as part of the E-Government program. The E-Government program which is ongoing will also benefit other Ministry’s and Government departments.

“In the short to long term, we envision to see citizens accessing government services from Community Information Centres (CICs). Our vision is to bring convenience to the people while decongesting government offices.

“We would like to see people applying for passports, birth and death certificates and other national documents from CICs.

We would like people to apply for liquor licences and register companies from CICs or even from their mobile phones. For this to succeed, the whole of government should be online and should have reliable ICT systems to support this,” explained Machengete.

Speaking at the same occasion,the Hon Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Prof Paul Mavima said this donation has come in handy at a critical time when there is need to enhance and widen the spectrum of Government services offered online. My Ministry has embraced thrust to digitalize Government services as outlined in the NDS1.

” The NDS1 identifies ICTs as one of the key enablers in achieving Vision 2030. It is therefore imperative for the Ministry’s services to be digitalized in order to achieve our National Vision towards an empowered and prosperous upper middle income society .

“My Ministry has four technical departments which are operating in all the ten provinces of the country which are Social Development, Disability Affairs, Labour Administration and Employment Services and Promotion”, said Prof Mavima.

Meanwhile, the Hon Minister is also championing the E-learning, E-health and E-agriculture programs in the country and has made remarkable strides under these programs as the world transforms – let us transform with it. Let no one and no place be left behind.