Gov’t to deliver better services, rules tightened

In a bid to implement the February National Leadership Retreat, the Prime Minister’s office came up with a Clients Charter that contains strict rules and regulations, ministries, and other government entities have to follow in order to improve on service delivery. In a letter addressed to all Ministries and government offices providing different services to the public, Prime Minister Bernard Makuza said all offices were to put up notices indicating the kind of services they provide, and the person in charge, complete with their contacts. Also stated in the letter obtained by The New Times, government offices are required to indicate the contacts of the officer’s supervisor in case the person supposed to give the service cannot be reached. Among the rules which were supposed to be implemented by all the concerned offices by mid-March include indicating the proper documentation a person requires to get a particular service as well as the time it takes for a person to get the service. Another compulsory rule also requires the office to indicate the contact of a person in higher authority to whom the public could forward their complaints in case they were not accorded a particular service in time so that further action could be taken. The authority is then required to not only ensure that the person gets the service they were supposed to get but also take stern measures to bring the official who failed to deliver the service to book. According to Claire Akamanzi, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer/ Business Operations and Services of Rwanda Development Board (RDB) who is also the Chairperson of the Cabinet-appointed committee to fast track good customer care in the country, the committee is working with the Prime Ministers office to ensure that rules are implemented. All government entities also have an obligation to attend to all written inquiries including emails by responding to the sender or preparing the feedback in not less than 3 days while where its impossible to fulfil the demands within the 3 days. The sender should also be notified of the timeframe required to get a comprehensive answer. The move is part of the government plan meant to address the problem of poor customer care in both the public and private sector as poor service delivery has been cited as a major setback to development. Some of the ministries and government institutions The New Times visited have already pinned up directions and contacts to guide the public towards receiving better services. At the Supreme Court, a notice on the notice board directing the public appears and a toll free number 3670 while the Nyarugenge Lower and Grand Instance Courts have notices at the reception to guide the public. At the Ministry of Justice, a schedule of working hours and the people responsible for particular services and their contacts is also available as well as at the Public Notary and the Prosecutor General’s office. Some the members of the public this reporter spoke to at different venues who preferred anonymity however revealed that bureaucracy still prevails in many government offices, adding that more should be done to put the resolutions into practice. At the Public Notary, scores of people decried the delay in the stamping and the time limit between 1 and 2pm, arguing that the Notary office should operate like other public offices. Ends