by Shongedzai Mugwagwa

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken break from his annual leave and officiated on the launch of the e-Cabinet system which signals the first phase of a move towards a paperless system to increase efficiency and timely Government documents, the Harare Post can report.

The e-Government programme is part of reforms to re-engineer, re-invigorate and modernise the public sector systems.

Implementation of the e-Government programme commenced in 2011 and remarkable progress has been made so far.

Officiating the launch, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the facility is a good example of public/private sector collaboration on a national project. The President urged for more such partnerships across sectors for a hastening of the realization of Vision 2030.

He added that the development, alongside National Data Centre and the launch of a computer manufacturing company in Masasa marks the beginning of an IT industry in the country.

“The system is equipped with an electronic granary which allows for ease of retrieval and cross-referencing for Cabinet purposes. The rest of Government officials in receipt of Cabinet Documents will for a while continue to receive hard copies of Cabinet materials until the operationalization of a secure Wide Area Network (WAN),” said the President.

In its manifesto for the 2018 harmonised elections, Zanu PF promised to adopt modern technologies; upgrade and expand backbone and core networks, towers, base stations; establishing more information centres; establishing a new International Gateway; connecting all Government Ministries on optic fibres and networking central hospitals.

In December 2018, President Mnangagwa appointed former Africom Chairperson Mr Charles Hwekwete, to head Zimbabwe’s e-Government Unit in the Office of the President and Cabinet.