Govt Command Centre will make a difference in service delivery

In a move intended to tighten loopholes that lead to poor service delivery in the public sector, the government plans to devise software that will help monitor the productivity of central and local government workers.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

In a move intended to tighten loopholes that lead to poor service delivery in the public sector, the government plans to devise software that will help monitor the productivity of central and local government workers.This might go a long way in ensuring civil servants deliver value-for-money to taxpayers. The Government Command Centre is also expected to guide policymakers to easily allocate funds and track expenditure of government departments.Using technology to ease work process and improve performance is a bold move. However, the solution should not be looked at as the magic bullet that will improve performance in the public service or curb corruption on its own.Other initiatives like empowering the citizens to monitor public employees should be sustained. An empowered and enlightened citizenry is a great weapon against corruption and any inefficiency. Once citizens have fully understood that getting good and timely service is not a favour but a right, they will push civil servants to do their work and make sure taxpayers’ money is used properly.Besides, with advances in technology, it could be costly to rely on one or two solutions (in case they develop loopholes) when there are other options that can be used to supplement the Government Command Centre’s work.The initiative is a step in the right direction, more so when some government workers are fond of giving the excuse of lack of certain documents or information to postpone activities.This will help improve performance and reduce red tape in delivering services to the masses, and ensure proper accountability, thus cementing good corporate governance in public service.