That means that billions of shillings paid out by the government for goods and services rendered will be wired to banks directly, after payments are processed on line.
At the same time, Kenyans will no longer need to wait for donkey days at the immigration, Registration of Persons and Road Transport Department, thanks to the introduction of a mandatory e-government in all government departments.
The move, once implemented fully in a year's time will save on scarce resources spent in travelling long distances to get vital documents such as passports, identification cards and road licence stickers.
It will also save the governments of millions spent purchasing tonnes of paper used to apply for these documents. Conservative estimates say that the entire government machinery consumes close to one tonne of paper a day, leading to wastage. For example, one requires to fill two sheets of paper before getting his or her road licence processed, three sheets of paper to process a passport and a corresponding quantity for a birth certificate.
The E-government project is being coordinated by the Directorate of E-government based at the Office of the President.
The man in-charge of the project is Dr Juma Oketch, a former IT Director at the Treasury.
“We are determined to change the way the government conducts its business. We view the public sector as an enterprise, and not one bunch of an enormous entity”, a source at the 10th floor secretariat of the e- government headquarters confided to Financial Review.
The project will not be a an elitist matter. It will spread its tentacles to all district headquarters in the next five years.
Already, all the key government buildings have been cabled to ensure that the project kicks off.
The government is in the process of putting in place the necessary legal parameters to ensure the project kicks off uninterrupted.
This includes making e-mails official government communication channel, to replace letters, minimise bureaucratic red tape, and enhance efficiency, the directorate said in an exclusive interview with Financial Review.
The emergence of a global information society is accelerating the pace of change in ways of governing. As a result, Kenya, like any other member of the global village, finds herself in the midst of a fundamental transformation. A public service that is well poised to respond to a rapidly changing society is a necessity. It is the only way to remain effective and relevant in the new knowledge age.
Electronic government or e-government will radically revolutionise government operations. Through the use of technologies such as wide area networks, internet and mobile computing, e-government will improve effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery and promote democracy. The technology will spur development by enhancing the creation of wealth and employment by encouraging and promoting investments in the human resources and efficient systems for service delivery.
Although sceptics argue that e-government can result in massive lay offs, the technology has a reverse effect, experts say. The system makes efficient the coordination and collaboration within and among public institutions; between government and the private sector and between the state and the citizenry it serves in the implementation of government policies.
The private sector, driven by the need to cut costs and remain competitive, have had to develop efficient systems to serve its clients. The users of these systems, who also seek services from government, are beginning to demand similar services from government. The government is challenged to provide fast transactions like the banks etc. E-government therefore is about efficient information and services delivery to citizens, thus empowering them. It will also lead to creation of a transparent and accountable environment in the government and society at large. The use of ICT in performance based management, monitoring and evaluation systems, will enable the government to be more result oriented than it was previously. Many supporters of e-government are optimistic in the establishment of the system. The media, for example, will save money and time they spend chasing for comparative facts that could otherwise be easily down loaded from the Internet had the system have been in place.
For instance it can take less than a minute to find out how many crimes were committed in the USA last month, a task that can take a lucky crime reporter a week were the same data needed for Kenya.
The Directorate of e-government, which begun its operation early this year, is charged with facilitating the programme of Government of Kenya on-line (GOK On-line). It is supported by a number of committees drawn from various government organs and agencies.
These ministerial committees will also be required to identify gaps and inadequacies (both technical and institutional) and make appropriate recommendations on the way forward. Highlights of accomplishments so far:
- Ten (10) government buildings have been cabled in Nairobi while plans to cable nine (9) more are underway.
- The government has entered into a contract with China’s Huawei Technologies Company that will provide wireless communications to all district and divisional government offices in Kenya.
- An email system for all civil servants on the Kenya.go.ke domain is ready for a roll out.
Autor: Fredrick Odiero
Quelle: Kenya Times, 25.10.l2005
