Liquor licensing goes digital Dr Misheck Sibanda

Elita Chikwati Senior Reporter

Government has launched the e-liquor licensing system to improve service delivery. The system is one of the five components of the Integrated Results-Based Management system adopted by Government in 2005 as a reform and modernisation tool to improve performance and service delivery.In a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Ray Ndhlukula, at the official launch of e-liquor license system in Murehwa yesterday, Chief Secretary Dr Misheck Sibanda said the launch of the electronic system was a complete departure from paper-based to an online licensing application, processing and renewal.

For the past decades, the application and renewal of liquor licences were centralised in Harare and administered by the Liquor Licensing Board (LLB).

“There was only one office in Harare which served the whole of Zimbabwe, thereby making those who applied for the liquor licence regard the process as a tedious, time consuming and expensive. This resulted in poor documentation and record keeping.

“Financial leakages at the LLB and non-payment of licences by some liquor entrepreneurs became prevalent thus depriving the fiscus of the much needed revenue,” he said.

He said e-liquor licences will be processed online anywhere and anytime in a fast and efficient way bringing relief and convenience to business people.

“The launch of the e-liquor comes at the time when Government is concentrating on the ease-of-doing business reforms to improve the investment climate for both local and foreign investors. Most of the liquor outlets are owned by local businesspeople, hence the e-licensing system will reduce the cost of doing business and motivate them to apply and renew licences on time,” he said.

The ease-of-doing business reforms also target starting a new business which used to require more than three months before the application could be approved but could be done in one day.

He said the e-Government programme was one of the critical building blocks for the successful implementation of the Zim-Asset 2013-2018.

“The e-Government programme is the brainchild of the Office of the President and Cabinet with President Mugabe promoting e-learning programmes. The Presidential e-learning programme has so far benefited more than 1 000 schools across the nation,” he said.

Ministry of Local Government and Public Works permanent secretary Engineer George Mlilo said the inaccessibility of the services provided by the LLB remained a challenge for the ministry.

He said the LLB was considered as one of the e-flagship projects that were to be immediately implemented.

“The new system has a positive effect of reducing the waiting period by the applicant from 30 days to one day.

“To curb leakages, the system now allows the applicant to pay using Visa cards, TeleCash and EcoCash unlike the manual system where one had to pay through the offices at Mukwati Building directly into the system,” he said.

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