By Dr. Chiyaba Njovu
Last weekend, I received a call from a colleague who sounded bitterly disappointed about the news of change of passports and the manner in which the Zambian government was going on about it. He informed me that Zambians in the diaspora would not be allowed to renew their passports using their agents in Zambia but only through their respective missions abroad.
I could not believe this and asked him whether that was the true position government had taken. His answer was in the affirmative. He further stated that this was the reason why embassy staff in London were traveling throughout the country asking people to renew their passports. Well, I thought if this is the way our government is going to conduct its business, then I am sorry we may sing as many songs as we like but no serious tourists, investors, or any other business partners would ever take us seriously. I thought for a while and wondered whether the advent of ICTs and the development of ICT based systems meant anything to our policy makers.
It is for this reason that I thought it might be an idea to advise and reiterate my earlier suggestion to government in 2004 about the importance of an e-government Framework for our government institutions. e-Government ( or electronic government, also known as e-gov, digital government, online government) refers to the use of internet technology as a platform for exchanging information, providing services and transacting with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. e-Government may be applied by the legislature, judiciary, or administration, in order to improve internal efficiency, the delivery of public services, or processes of democratic governance.
Simply put, an e-government Framework would allow government to publish essential information about its services, allow businesses to access information about investment opportunities available with Zambian based businesses and other useful information essential for easy of conducting business.
It would also allow citizens to access essential government information without having to queue up at some mission or some government office. For example, you do not need to visit a mission to access passport forms or visa application forms. These should be available on line via some portal. Furthermore, it would also make it easier for government to disseminate information about government successes on issues of interest to the nation without any distortions from some other interested parties such as opposition political party leaders.
With e-government systems in place, tourists or any visitors to Zambia do not need to visit a mission to apply for a visa, a hunting license, an employment permit or any such documents. These could be done on-line as they do not require any prior physical verification before they are issued in principle. Citizens do not require to visit the citizenship registry to apply for a National Registration Card or queue up at some office to register as a voter. A single portal would handle all these services on behalf of government without any additional resources.
With proper e-government systems, government officials do not need to visit project sites to assess progress made on projects under their supervision as this information could be accessed online as work in progress information. There are many benefits government could realize from a well thought out e-governance framework.
For example, year in year out, the Auditor General uncovers irregularities in government expenditure and blatant misuse of government resources. Do we really need to wait for 5- 10 years to know that money was misappropriated? They say prevention is better than cure and I know with proper e-government systems, accounting for resources allocated for projects could be an on-going thing.
Controlling officers would monitor how resources are being used and could intervene if it became clear that resources were being misapplied. You can talk about corruption until cocks come to roost but without proper e-government systems, some people will still get away with it. Talk of policemen on patrols, how would you know how many fault vehicles he/she impounded if there is no way for him to log this information in some systems? Would you blame a policeman for failing to issue a receipt for a fine of K10,000.00 if that is going to save him time to save a human life in an emergency?
Let us think and work like people living in the 21st century and make our country a better place to live in and conduct business. An e-government framework will benefit us all equally. Businessmen would find it easy to conduct their businesses, ZRA would find it easy to broaden the tax base and ease revenue collection, investors would find it easy to monitor investment opportunities, NGOs would find it difficult to tell lies to donors about government policies while donors would find it easy to verify proposals submitted to them for funding; government would find it easy to disseminate important information about its achievements and opposition political parties would find easy to engage government on issues of poor delivery while law enforcement agents would find it easy to monitor patterns of crime and enforce laws, etc. The most important anticipated benefits of e-government include more efficiency, improved services, better accessibility of public services, and more transparency and accountability.
In conclusion, I wish to reiterate my earlier proposal for government to seriously consider an e-governance framework and how this could positively impact on development. The technology is there to support such a framework, resources are in abundance, we have enough technical skills to accomplish it and further develop more such skills among our people who need jobs. What we need and urgently appeal for is goodwill from government decision makers. The job could be done and if the government needs further help, our doors are open for advice, technical guidance and skills provision. The ball is in your court.
The author is currently a Senior Lecturer – Information Systems (Databases) and is the African Regional Link Tutor for Computing Collaborations at the University of Greenwich, London. He is also the first Publicity Secretary of the University of Zambia Lecturers and Researchers Union (UNZALARU).
This is the wrong time for advisors, we need implementors!l-)
Ba Moze, Nine Chale
Lt has started editing. No Nambala 1 for now
#5 Pinkly this is the new symbol for nambala one = l-)
Nambala two = :)>-
Nine Chale
Great! hope it works. I tried :o):o)but Lt replaced me with ba Moze who was nambala 2
RB kindly take this piece of advice
No wonder they have edited me coz i was numba **==[-x
Gud sugestion Doc but i dont think the current govt is intrested in any advise,as long as their stomachs are full well and gud.They care less for the citizens who put them in those positions.Maybe such wil be effected in 2011,thts if there will be no rigging.
Pinkly I was numba 1 imagine this is not fair ba LT. Nafileka kanshi
Congratulations Nine Chale! when will be the maual ready for being Nambala :)>-
Well Chiyaba, I could only concur with you on your straight forward proposal.
Correction: Manual
The development and implementation of e-government involves a lot .E.g consideration of its effects on the organisation of the public sector and on the nature of the services provided by the state including environmental, social, cultural, educational, and consumer issues, among others. Looking at Zambia, that’s a non-starter. :o):o)
Is this Chiyaba Njovu the man who resigned as presidential advisor at the end of LPM’s first term in office?
Na Kay
Dont worry, we will work out another plan… but sheeee!
Ba Moze, do you see the type of jobs we Zambians do abroad? We don’t mess with petty jobs…:d/
Zoe, uli how?
Thanks alot Pinkly
LT
Be advised that you are simply reducing the much needed stress reliver by editing peoples comments Mark my words: at this rate you will become irrelevant!
Pinkly
Iyi topic i cant contribute. Mwaliba ichisungu ichashupa. Ati Cyber fimo fimo, katwishi fi spoofing uko, shanishani e- chakuti, awee. I cant comprehend. Going back to Diaspora where am under fire.
#16 Lusaka am ok my dearest.Was jus viewing ba Mozes comment on the Diaspora issue.I am feeling his contributions and makes me a proud Zambian.Thumbs up Ba Moze.
Pinkly gud 2see u in a pleasant mood.
**==**==**==
Doc,genuine idea,but to convince pipo like shikapwasha,teta,mulongoti etc,awe sure u’ll need a task force….
Lets us not forget that the information age is only understood by the so called wire generation just look at the people in govt at the moment and the top civil servants then u will know that this advice just like so many others will fall on deaf ears.
Na Kay
This Internet, cyber fimomo, e-goverment shani shani uko, etc is boring.Some of us, that is not our field. We will wait for the IT speciliasts to come and do what they know best…What do you think ayi?
DOC,
These guys cant see your point. They believe in banione anthu. They cant even implement it coz they will not have leissure allowances. Cant you see how Nyama Soya is up and down Zambia as if in those places he is visiting there are no people to inform him on development. Doc they will not listen. The men like Teta and Mulongoti what do you expect from them????
But let us not stop advising these selfish creatures of GOD…one they might listen. =d>=d>=d>=d>=d>
Fellers
PLEASE WHOEVER SEES THIS GUY CALLED MAN KUNDE SHOULD TELL ME,PLEASE GUYS HE HAS GOT A CASE TO ANSWER NAPAPATA SANA GUYS.MAN KUNDE
WHO DARE YOU REDUSE US LIKE THAT SURE? YOU KNOW WHAT AM TALKING ABOUT,i HAVE JUST READ YOUR EMAIL
Zoe
My dear, This is just LT. Its not necessary to be in a foul mood all day because of one little ~:>
:d/:d/:d/:d/
just having fun after lunch no work no this and that:-?:-?:-? its boring mwe
LT LT gud job on the deleting of no’s. 1 2 etc
Pinkly
You are 100% right my brother
#24 matworld.
At shani???? reduced to what??? Kabili finish man naiwe….are e-mails there …guys yashani muleplaya pa LT.
Pickly be ware of ba maureen…balekubendelela.
Zoe
Cheers girl. thanks for feeling my comments!! :)>-
Kambongolo
Lyashi ilitali mudala,please tell me if you see him napapata sana.Otherwise how are you my dear?
Na Kay
It should read… you are 100% right my sister. Thanx
Good topic for discussion in cabinet meeting, well done Doc. Kanshi we ve a few educated wise
Pinkly
Sorry I didn’t know you are a sister forgive me
Na kay
Dont worry mama! You kaili you didnt know :o)
Bloggers
those of you who have been to the Diaspora issue are urged to do now. Ba Moze is on fire!
Zambia needed to wake up on these some over 10 years ago. It’s true we need an e-government framework. Those opposed to this are just expressing their ignorance and must shut up as they don’t know the benefits of such a system. They are crooks together with those corrupt folks who want to avoid such an important endearment!
Wake up, wake up Zambia! We are open to implementing this as some of us have been behind most of these world wide systems we admire.
article much too long to read – Dr Njovu less is more
Good bye bloggers. Until tommoro then. :)>-
E-governemt ataseeh…finshi kanshi..takwaba ….aah ahhh, talk of e-comerce, e-transaction..NOT e-government, efinshi? is beyound my comprehemsion. talk of e-process management pilizi. This word has just been created by author, yabah!
Whether e-gov or e-education or e-medicine or e-commerce or e-discussion (as you’re doing here)… is the way to go. We’re behind even the very small countries in Africa we were much ahead of in the past.
Doctor, Thank you very much for this elaborate article but allow me to assume that you are living in an utopia. In the first place, you are assuming that Zambia and UK can be talking about such matters without infrastructure. Zamtel is trying to put up a fibre network, some Bemba chaps are alreadty stealing and vandalising it.
The brainy people like you who are suppose to establish such systems are in Diaspora looking for greener pastures, leaving Nyama soya alone. Then you advise the govt to go e-.
You already know the Nigerians who are very good at it are waiting for our Nyama soya to make a mistake of having an e-govt, so that they can have Zambia Passports and steal money kwati bena Zed
Impressive piece of work Dr Senior lecturer.I hope this men who learnt in the past and now leading our GRZ will get some sense from this your great contribution.
On the otherhand, I was just pondering on issues where South Africa (SA) has about 6% of its mining industry contribute to GDP while ours is almost 80. SA is composed of about 1221037 square kilometres (25th on Earth) while Zambia is 752618 km^2 (39th in the world). SA has a desert in form of the semi-arid land while Zambia has none. The Densities in population for Sa and Zambia are 39 people/km^2 and 16 peo./km^2.
Why then are we Zambians terribly behind in GDP? Do we have dull people in expertise? Are our politics the cause? :-
Impressive piece of work Dr Senior lecturer.I hope this men who learnt in the past and now leading our GRZ will get some sense from this your great contribution.
On the otherhand, I was just pondering on issues where South Africa (SA) has about 6% of its mining industry contribute to GDP while ours is almost 80. SA is composed of about 1221037 square kilometres (25th on Earth) while Zambia is 752618 km^2 (39th in the world). SA has a desert in form of the semi-arid land while Zambia has none. The Densities in population for Sa and Zambia are 39 people/km^2 and 16 peo./km^2.
Why then are we Zambians terribly behind in GDP? Do we have dull people in expertise? Are our politics the cause? :-?!
well put doc. hopefully someone is listening, but the worrying issues are we continue to blame politics for luck of progress. what is the job of the civil service? surely setting up systems is up there as a key to smoothly run government? The persons to blame are those tasked to run these ministries.
In this day and age, the simplest thing to maintain is a web page. Look at GRZ et al web pages and you will see that we have a big problem… Links that link to nowhere, pages eternally under construction! Times of Zambia and Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday sometimes do not refersh their pages for weeks! The ZNBC web site graphics are appaling. Even the Post which tales subscriptions lacks photographs. It seems the only person they photograph afresh is Ms Masebo. That is IT in Zambia, now we want them to do our passports?
FOR AN SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF ANY KIND OF INFORMATION SYSTEM, ITS NEED SUPPORT FROM ALL THE STAKHOLDER!!MORE FROM THE TOP OF ANY GIVEN ORGANIZATION- EG THE COMPANY NEED THE FULL SUPPORT FROM THE CEO AND THE COUNTRY TO FULLY IMPLEMENT eGOVT NEED SUPPROT FROM THE PRESDENT AND THE MINISTERS. BUT MINITERS LIKE TETA THAT WONT HAPPEN IN THE NEAR FUTURE 😕
Much as this sounds pretty impressive I think it’d be better for the good doctor to get off his pedestal and mingle with the commoners on the ground for a little bit.
Is there a sufficient supporting framework to “carry” this cause.
It’s hard fact to swallow but despite a lot of the world being in the 21st century, poor Zed and many other countries are still far behind. We have to develop at a pace designed for the benefit of the majority of our people… Those undereducated and poverty stricken ones. How will an e-gov benefit them? They are Zambias bulk.
E-governance is the way to go. Here in the UK, even applying for children’s school places is done online. Citizens do not have to quarrel with civil servants or council workers when accessing certain services. Everything is done online. I do not remember when I walked into my bank to pay utility bills, etc. Pa Zed, the so-called internet banking ninshi bakukokola ba ZANACO olo ba Barclays.
These are ideas to keep in mind for the long term. In the meantime, the Ministry of Lands website provides a simple but good example of what can be achieved with a modest budget. The e_gov framework project is too expensive for Zambia. If there is one sure way of handing over millions of $ to foreign consulting firms, such a project is the way to go. The UK has invested millions in IT white elephants only to quickly cover them up with millions more on follow on projects. Zambia can ill afford such showmanship tendencies. Keep the people employed and make current the system work more efficiently than hitherto. We can afford that today!
What do you expect from a government run by chaps like Chibombamilimo, Tetamashimba, Munkombwe, Shikapwasha and Mulongoti? ICT is magic to these guys and for as long as they remain in government, this ICT framework will be a far fetched dream. We currently have an opportunity in the NCC by enshrining ICT and not religion in our constitution. We can then use ICT implemenation in the various gvt sectors as a yard against which to measure performance. I have seen senior government employees flashing official business cards with Yahoo, Hotmail and Webmail email address realms. That should give you an indication as to how far we are from civilistaion!
Hi everyone. Like many of you am Zambian but live abroad (U.S). I have been watching this board for a while now, and found this topic worthy of my response. If infact the “technology is there to support such a framework, resources are in abundance, we have enough technical skills to accomplish it and further develop more such skills among our people who need jobs” why is this not an eye opener for the Zambian goverment. I work in the IT field and have been for the last 5 years, it’s hard to fathom or even imagine why our government cannot/will not seriously consider going this route. I get pissed off when some ZED folk wonder why some of us aren’t that eager to return home! Ba GRZ~X(
A good advice Doc, to add to the doc’s missive, GRZ should be the leader investing in this sector which could lead to growth in this sector.Jobs will be created, resources will be effectively utilised, information flow will be improved, expat skills esp. Zambians living abroad will be encouraged to look back home for a career.I’m in IT for the past 15 yrs and working RSA, meeting my fellow IT pipo who want to go back home, but the question remains “to do what?”.The country should be able to absorb us if we thought of coming back, but at the moment only a few banks would attract experienced IT expertise.A suggestion would be to form a forum of all zambians in dispora and advice GRZ.
A forumn is a good start. The biggest discouraging fact(or) is that, you return to Zambia to vertuallt nothing. As you know, being in the IT field requires one to stay ahead with current technology through consistant training. Can the ZED gov implement anything even on a small sqaure to atleast attract those of us who really would love to relocate? Something like cover training expenses. The answer is pretty clear here. So, to the powers to be, please please please take heed to my plea. It shouldn’t even be about the salary but if you show that you’re atleast willing to employee Zambians with extensive IT experience, the money we will generate will make up for the otherwise low salaries.