Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Mutare Bureau
THE Government is narrowing its focus to a smaller set of high‑impact targets in the social sectors as it moves to accelerate delivery under National Development Strategy 2.
This emerged during a National Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Handbook and Data Management Workshop currently underway in Mutare, where officials are refining indicators that will guide implementation of programmes in health, education and other social services.
The workshop, which began yesterday and ends today, follows an earlier phase held earlier this week focusing on economic ministries, with the current discussions concentrating on social sectors that directly affect citizens’ daily lives.
Addressing participants, Policy Coordination, Analysis and Development Planning Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Willard Manungo, said Government is deliberately shifting away from broad and excessive indicators to a focused set that delivers measurable results.
“Experience has shown that an excessive number of indicators can dilute focus and weaken effective monitoring.
“For this reason, the Government is undertaking a deliberate exercise to streamline national indicators to a limited set of high-level and high‑impact KPIs,” he said.
Dr Manungo said the new approach will see fewer than 50 key indicators being tracked at national level, a move expected to sharpen implementation and improve accountability.
“This approach ensures that national monitoring focuses on impact and strategic outcomes, rather than an overwhelming number of activity‑level indicators,” he said.
He said the shift comes at a critical time as Government moves into full implementation of NDS2.
“This engagement comes at a critical moment as the Government transitions into full implementation of NDS2, which represents our final blueprint for accelerating socio‑economic transformation towards Vision 2030,” said Dr Manungo.
He stressed that monitoring and evaluation systems are now central to achieving tangible development outcomes.
“Monitoring and evaluation is no longer a peripheral administrative function. It is now a strategic management tool that informs policy, strengthens accountability and enables us to measure whether interventions are producing the intended results,” he said.
Dr Manungo said Government is also strengthening data systems to ensure decision‑making is based on credible and reliable information.
“Credible monitoring requires credible data. We are putting in place data management protocols that will ensure that performance information is accurate, verifiable and decision‑ready,” he said.
Also addressing the participants, Permanent Secretary for National Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, Ms Fananai Madambi, said the workshop is a key step towards aligning all Government institutions to a common results framework.
“This workshop marks an important step in strengthening the implementation of NDS2 and operationalising the national results framework that will guide Government performance over the next five years.”
Ms Madambi said the process involves refining and validating indicators submitted by ministries to ensure consistency and clarity.
“The purpose of this workshop is to review and confirm indicator definitions, formulas, baselines, targets and data sources so that we have a shared understanding across all sectors,” she said.
She added that the outcome will be a consolidated KPI Handbook that becomes the standard reference for measuring Government performance.
“At the end of this process, we will have a streamlined set of indicators that allows us to track strategic development outcomes more effectively at national level,” she said.
Ms Madambi noted that Zimbabwe is aligning its performance systems with global trends, where governments are focusing on fewer but more meaningful indicators.
“Globally, there is a shift towards results‑based management systems that prioritise clear outcomes supported by credible data systems, and Zimbabwe is moving in that direction,” she said.
