Harare (New Ziana)-Zimbabwean citizens are generally satisfied with the delivery of public services, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere has said.
Dr Muswere told a post cabinet media briefing on Tuesday that a report on the Citizen Satisfaction Survey and Baseline Survey on Work Culture Transformation, 2023 presented by the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, July Moyo showed that overall citizens are generally satisfied with the delivery of public services as the transformation of the Public Service continues.
“Cabinet informs the nation that the study found that the overall Satisfaction Index (level of satisfaction) was 70.81% compared to the 67.78% recorded in 2022.
The improvement was due to the following indices which were rated in the “strongly satisfied” category: Assurance, 76.90% in 2023 compared to 72.52% in 2022; Empathy, 75.6% in 2023 and 71.37% in 2022; Responsiveness, 72.35% in 2023 and 66.96% in 2022; and Reliability, 71.25% in 2023 and 67.18% in 2022,” he said.
“However, there is need to better the indices falling within the “satisfied” category, that is, ICTs infrastructure and Equipment; Inclusivity and Gender and Location.
“The overall Employee Satisfaction Index was 72.66% compared to the 69.17% recorded in 2023.
Civil servants perceived themselves to be highly empathetic, assuring and reliable towards citizens.
The 2023 survey dimensions of Empathy, Assurance and Reliability had indices of 79.85%; 79.16% and 75.57% were all higher that the 2022 indices of 75.45%, 75.71% and 75.10%, respectively. There was need to improve on the ICTs infrastructure and Equipment; Inclusivity and Gender and Location which were in the “satisfied” category.”
There was high and positive correlation between citizens’ and civil servants’ perception of the service quality dimensions leading to the conclusion that citizens and employees are generally satisfied with quality of service offered by government, Dr Muswere said adding that the government will continue to prioritise the conditions of service of its staff members to guarantee excellent service delivery.
The five top rated Ministries, Departments and Agencies were the Public Service Commission, (citizens-77.47% and civil servants- 75.42%); Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Wildlife, (citizens-73.70% and civil servants-73.22%); Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, (citizens-73.12% and civil servants-73.73%); Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, (citizens-75.30% and civil servants-76.25%); and Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, (citizens-72.87% and civil servants 72.85%).
The ministries of Local Government and Public Works and National Housing and Social Amenities were the only two to record decreases in their satisfaction indices, while all other ministries improved in their citizens’ ratings in 2023.
“Most provinces registered improvement in the 2023 Citizen Satisfaction Index with the exception of Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Masvingo.
Regarding employee satisfaction, most provinces recorded improvement, with the exception of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East and Matabeleland North,” he said.
“Meanwhile, the overall Work Culture Transformation Index in 2023 was 73.20% compared to 69.09%, with the average work culture transformation scores for the relevant dimensions ranging from 54.35% (working from home) to 82.00% (work ethics). Government will, nevertheless, endeavour to improve on the ICTs; Wellness, Inclusivity and Gender; and Attitude dimensions of the Work Culture Transformation.”
As part of the improvement thrust, over 2 000 civil servants recently met in Gweru for a week-long Inter-Ministerial Sports Tournament, which goes to show the importance government attaches to Wellness.
Dr Muswere said Cabinet noted that the survey is in line with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Second Republic’s operational values of servant leadership, and citizen-centric interventions emanating from citizen engagement and inclusivity.
He said there is need to continuously and objectively assess citizens’ satisfaction with the services in order to ensure that expectations are effectively met given that government entities have the greatest interface with the people through the public services they provide.
The study, said the Minister gathered information on citizens’ and employees’ perceptions regarding Zimbabwe’s public service delivery system as well as the current work culture among public servants in accordance with set dimensions with the data used for improving policies, systems and procedures in order to enhance service delivery.
“Notably, the survey included gathering information on the behaviours, attitudes and knowledge of public service employees from citizens, Government employees and stakeholders in all the country’s 10 provinces, 72 districts and from all the government Ministries. A sample of 5 920, comprising 4 750 citizens and 1 170 civil servants was chosen.”
New Ziana
