Friday, December 13, 2024

E-government is beneficial, says Anthony Mukwita as PMRC findings reveal real benefits

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Zambia's ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita
Zambia’s ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita

Zambia is on the right path in her e-government program, says the country’s ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita. Ambassador Mukwita says Germany and many countries in Europe are already reaping the benefits of efficient governments and the reduction of costs in the running of government machinery.

“Most transactions here are now electronic and may be conducted from the mobile devise you carry in your hands resulting in lower transaction costs and saving on time”, says ambassador Mukwita.

The senior envoy was commenting on a research undertaken by the Policy Monitoring and Research Center, PMRC, and headed by its Chief Executive Officer Benadette Deka that indicates that Zambia “has been able to save K72 million on payslip printing and K68 million on the cost of paper annually”.

Quoting Smart Zambia, an e-Government division in the office of the President, PMRC says the e-paylisp system has helped curb the long standing problem of ghost workers that had remained on the payroll and drawing a government salary.

In addition, PMRC notes that the Smart Zambia initiative on payslips has environmental benefits “because the phasing out of paper payslips entails reduction in cutting down of trees and low energy issues”.

“On the contribution to a clean environment and clean energy, the Zambian government is already working with the German government resulting in an initiative to set up 100 megawatt mini solar plants in different parts of the country”, ambassador Mukwita says adding, “this is in line with President Edgar Lungu’s vision of a diversified energy sector for Zambia”.

The Zambian envoy has pledged support to Smart Zambia in their efforts to introduce IT solutions that could help realize President Lungu’s vision for an efficient and effective public sector.

“This is why the Zambian government has an embassy in this part of the world where e-Government is already a reality and examples abound regarding implementation experiences. We stand ready to identify any kind of technical partnerships or IT solutions that may be required back home”, ambassador Mukwita says.

According to the World Bank, “E-Government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions”.

24 COMMENTS

    • Vision! ……What vision?

      Where you there, Mr. Mukwita, on the Presidential campaigns leading to the election of your boss? It’s on record that he said he had no vision of his own.

      Check with your former employer ZNBC.

    • Last year this sly rat was bragging about bringing investors who were going to reduce the price of broadband ….really laughable….these useless blathering chaps should never be in our embassies but with Sunday Chanda in the PF media office.

    • This No.2 Lungu A.ss-licker (after Bowman Lusambo) does not have Zambians interest at heart. Last week he was inviting investors to come to Zambia as they wont pay tax for 5 years & even change company names after 5 years to continue evading tax. What a shi.thole id.iot.

    • Hehehehe and go figure .. Boom! it has suddenly occurred to the Anthony that e-governance results in cost savings. However they should have indicated the running costs of managing the servers and network costs. The setup costs of the e switch and entire network and how long it would take for the savings to repay for this investment etc. It would have put a lot more meaning to this article. But I don’t expect much from Anthony and Madam Deka both well known PF caders

  1. The credibility of Mukwita brings in other questions whether not he even knows what he was talking about. The story coming from the “only in Zambia guy.Wait a minute! Isn’t this guy supposed to be fired by now?

  2. Simply look at that photo ..everything an Ambassador should not be flashy as Kaizer….He is another one that Ministry Of Foreign Affairs should shut up for issuing statements…then again they are afraid of touching him as he is Lazy Lungu’s author and bootlicker.

  3. That’s what poor Times and Daily Mail Reporters aspire to be like Anthony Mukwita…the former Times employee now ambassador

  4. What mostly annoys me about Mukwita is his habit of living and dressing like a rich man or some millionaire at tax payers expense.

  5. You just wonder what criteria is used to appoint such a fella to a position of ‘His Excellency’. Mukwita sure!!!? – and when you don’t respect some people holding some of these offices, some people even go ballistic! When will we ever learn?

  6. start with toll gates.We are tired of paying money which goes into politician’s pockets.
    We need to start paying using cards at toll gates.These guys are stealing toll gate money period.When they steal they even delate the database.let pay directly to the bank instead of paying cash.what kind of govt promoting e payments but using cash when transacting.

  7. Limelight seeker, Another Anthony Mwamba. People who really work are quiet and delivering results. This guy is loud with no delivery, but he needs a sharp boss to discern that.

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