To fast-track the rollout of government online services, Irembo platform, an e-government portal developed and operated by ‘Rwanda Online’, has introduced a new e-learning platform to facilitate government officials to deliver services.

Via www.nihugure.com, government officials will be able to educate themselves about the use of e-government portal to enable them deliver quick services to citizens, without waiting for training that tend to come at specific times.

The new website was officially launched in Remera, Kigali, yesterday, giving an opportunity to Gasabo District local leaders to be the first to access it in the country.

Speaking during the official launch, Clement Uwajeneza, the CEO of Rwanda Online Platform Limited, noted that the main aim of the e-learning portal is to fast-track delivery of public services, and help government back-end officers to easily learn how to use the government platform without spending a lot.

"People have been spending a lot of time, moving to training venues to learn how to use Irembo. They have been spending money on the journeys, food and airtime, among others. Even the organisers would spend on some unnecessary expenses during such trainings. This is the reason we came up with the idea of establishing a new way of easily providing training to the people without spending much,” he noted.

Uwizeye said that this was in line with the government’s vision to provide and improve services to the citizens and businesses using technology tools.

"You’ve heard things like smart cities, smart environment and others; it’s in the same line with the vision of our nation to deliver services with ease, efficiency and reliability. As the country that aims at being a knowledge-based economy, we are advised to use technology to provide public services,” Uwajeneza added.

The e-learning initiative provides room for the users with tutorial content, handouts, videos, written articles, and quizzes to make self-evaluation.

Meanwhile, Raymond Chretien Mberabahizi, Gasabo’s vice mayor in charge of finance and economic development, noted that it’s an opportunity for them to have such an initiative starting in their district.

"We believe if this initiative is used well, we’ll be able to improve efficiency in service delivery. As a district that offers services to a huge number of people, it’s really a great opportunity,” he said.

"If you look at the things that let us down under the previous performance contracts, service delivery came at the top, this initiative therefore, is critical.”

During the launch, officials in charge of civil status registration received smart phones and simcards which are expected to help them in their daily activities.

Today, at least ten services, including the application for a birth certificate, registration for provisional or definitive and supplementary driving license tests, and application for a criminal record, are already available online.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw