Some successes and challenges of e-governance in Tanzania

By Aloyce Menda

Tanzania resembles most developing countries that suffer from economic problems and extensive rural poverty. However, contrary to many African countries, Tanzania survives in peace and tranquility since attaining political independence from Britain four decades ago.

Proper application of modern information and communication technologies (ICT) in government operations (e-governance) can simplify and speedy administrative objectives and enhance good governance, human rights, democracy, peace and security.
Actually e-governance facilitates efficient and more effective interaction between the government and citizens; government offices and businesses; the government and other governments; and the branches within the same government. In so doing e-governance propels transparency, accountability, efficient and effective leadership in all government branches namely administration (executives), civil service, parliament and judiciary.

In summary e-governance are a key to better government leadership and a consequent solution to rapid and successful political, social and sustainable economic development. Most civil conflicts in developing countries particularly in Africa are a result of bad governance, human rights abuses, lack of genuine democracy and extensive poverty. Proper application of e-governance for internal and external operations of central and local government administration can eliminate these problems.

However, e-governance is more than just a government website on the Internet. “Political, social, economic and technological aspects determine e-governance,” says Michiel Backus of the Dutch International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD).

Internationally most countries are in the early stages of e-governance. But according to ICT experts, the western countries of Europe, the United States, Japan, Australia and Singapore are more advanced in e-governance.
In Tanzania e-governance is at infant stage. The central government website (www.tanzania.go.tz) was inaugurated in 2000 and since then some government branches and local government authorities focused on e-governance initiatives. The Kinondoni Municipal Council (KMC) is the first among 126 local government authorities of Mainland Tanzania (municipalities and districts) to start e-governance project in 1999. All local governments are under the Minister of State for Local Governments and Regional Administrations in the President’s Office, Brigadier (Rtd) Hassan N’gwilizi. KMC is part of three municipal councils that forms Dar es Salaam City Council (DCC), the top authority of the de-facto capital of Tanzania.
The KMC e-governance project was actually a child brain of the Tanzanian Commission of Science and Technology (COSTECH) intended as a follow-up to the recommendation of the 1998 national ICT round table. The project proposal followed a feasibility study of August 1998 conducted to investigate, identify and recommend possible areas for sustainable computerization in the local governments.
The study results identified data flow patterns and their reporting mechanisms within and across various government sectors. Eventually KMC was pointed among 126 local governments to hold a pilot project. The COSTECH director of information, Mr. Theophil Mlaki approached KMC administration in 1998 with the idea of e-government project proposal and some computers as aid from IICD.
“By then there were only two office computers at the headquarters,” says Mr. Mlaki explaining the challenges he countered in presenting the e-governance idea to the KMC authority. According to Mr. Joash Nyitambe, the IT consultant for KMC, there are more than 120 computers in use today and most are Internet linked.
Being one of the three municipal councils of the major city of Tanzania, KMC has many political, economical, social and administrative responsibilities and functions to accomplish. They include social (education and health) services delivery, tax collection, business licensing, council elections supervision, construction and maintenance of basic infrastructure (roads, water supply etc), waste management, maintenance of security, law and order.

The COSTECH feasibility study had earlier reveled that most these functions were manually processed and to a greater extent ineffective and inefficient. Transparency was limited by slow flow of information impeding direct access to KMC public services. Moreover due to lack of computerized Management Information System (MIS) the KMC resources were poorly managed resulting in to poor public services.

Mr. Mlaki and his subordinates from COSTECH faced a challenge of illustrating to key KMC officials how ICT and the e-government project would improve the KMC performance in all departments. They had to explain how the project would work and point practical examples of similar projects. The main concerns of KMC were cost saving and improvement in tax revenue collection.

The COSTECH officials had to demonstrate how the e-governance project would boost good governance, the KMC revenue collection and service delivery without excessive costs and extra burden to tax payers. They succeeded and the pilot project took off in 1999 with financial and technical support from IICD and COSTECH.

KMC area is regarded as the resident of high and low income earners of the city population, privileged in terms of infrastructure improvement, living houses, social service provision and security. Most top government officials reside in the Kinondoni district. Based on its superior infrastructures and security, KMC attracts many local and foreign investors than the rest of the Dar es Salaam city area.

According to Mr. Nyitambe, the overall aim of the project is to bring about good governance by harnessing information for decision making through the use of ICT. The project further aims at establishing a pilot MIS for the top administration.

Databases for various services and records such as health, education, birth, marriage and death are computerized to facilitate good governance. This accelerates public services and compilation of various reports on social services. Registration and issuing of birth, marriage and death certificates is now ten times faster than it was before the project inauguration.

The Internet connection has enhanced the management and processing of matters pertaining to foreign trade and investment in Kinondoni district. The computerized MIS and infrastructure for good governance is comprised of an electronic network linked to the central government and international networks.

The KMC e-governance project enhances good governance by strengthening the pillars of public services provision, democracy, human rights, peace and security, which are vital elements for sustainable development. The project boosts transparency in government operations at local level and hence minimizes the loopholes for corruption amongst dishonest civil servants.
A vivid example is on business licensing and tax collection, which were so cumbersome before the e-governance project. Business licensing was contaminated with elements of corruption due to slow manual processes that lacked transparency as well. Today such elements are almost eliminated and businesspersons can process a license for one day that could take a week before the project.
KMC administration has publicly acknowledged that the project is boosting revenue collections in all sectors and has reduced to minimum public complains about victimization, favoritism and corruption in taxation procedures.
Today few IT experts can talk about e-governance in Tanzania without referring to the KMC. The KMC project is now the model of reference for all local governments in Tanzania. The central government has approved the KMC model to be replicated countrywide.
The project has proved to contain all characteris

Posted By: ALOYCE MENDA