Harare, (New Ziana) – Full implementation of e-government will help root out corruption in the public sector and improve service delivery by government agencies, a cabinet minister said on Saturday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Foreign Ministers Forum, Information Communication, Postal and Courier Services Minister Tatenda Mavetera said manual systems in the public service were prone to manipulation and corruption, costing government millions of dollars.
Digital systems, in contrast, minimised, if not entirely, eliminated the corruption scourge, she said.
The government is in the middle of an ambitious plan of digitalising services in the public sector, mainly to improve delivery efficiencies.
“This will see us have a lot of wins and increase our GDP (Gross Domestic Product),” Mavetera said.
“Adoption of e-government is important to reduce bribery and bureaucracy in the public service, and improve efficiency,” she added.
In addition, she said digital services in government and other sectors opened opportunities even for marginalised parts of the country, for example, in the area of online education.
“We (government) have a social contract with the people, and this is best performed on our part through use of e-government,” Mavetera said.
She said the government was ready to share knowledge on e-government with, and to tap the expertise of, other countries.
Russia and Zimbabwe are collaborating in this endeavour.
New Ziana