Online Reporter
Conrad Mupesa
Mashonaland West Bureau
GOVERNMENT has identified a raft of strategic priorities that will drive Zimbabwe’s development under National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), with renewed emphasis on policy innovation, citizen participation, digital transformation and accountability to accelerate the attainment of Vision 2030.
Officially opening the Tripartite Strategic Planning Workshop in Kadoma on Wednesday, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Martin Rushwaya, said the next phase of Government reforms must build on achievements recorded under NDS1.
He said the Office of the President and Cabinet, the Public Service Commission and the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, which make up the Tripartite institutional arrangement, would spearhead reforms aimed at strengthening governance, improving public service delivery and enhancing policy implementation.
Dr Rushwaya said Government was developing a Citizen Engagement Platform in partnership with the Harare Institute of Technology to enable citizens to actively participate in governance by providing feedback on the performance of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
“The platform would feed into Government’s performance contracting system and support the development of governance scorecards to improve accountability and service delivery,” he said.
He said Government would also strengthen policy coordination to eliminate duplication across institutions while enhancing the culture of performance management through the proposed Government Performance and Results Bill, which seeks to give legal backing to performance contracts, clarify institutional responsibilities and enforce accountability for non-performance.
“To stimulate economic growth, the Government has reviewed licences, permits, levies and fees across 13 priority sectors as part of the Ease of Doing Business reforms to reduce the cost of doing business and attract private investment,” he said.
He said the tripartite structure would also establish an integrated Government Delivery Dashboard to monitor the implementation of key national programmes in real time, allowing quicker intervention where bottlenecks arise.
The need to accelerate digital transformation through a whole-of-Government digital ecosystem supported by interoperable systems, online public services and data-driven decision-making also came under the spotlight as government works to align its operations with emerging technologies.
He also called for stronger stakeholder engagement, improved alignment of Government resources with national priorities, wider adoption of joint performance contracts across ministries and accelerated implementation of the constitutional devolution agenda.
Dr Rushwaya said Zimbabwe would continue drawing lessons from international best practices through partnerships with countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Rwanda to strengthen governance reforms, improve service delivery and modernise public administration.
He said the Tripartite institutional arrangement would remain the Government’s apex coordination mechanism, supported by an Early Warning and Rapid Response System to detect service delivery challenges early, facilitate timely interventions and ensure ministries remain on course in delivering national development objectives.
