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Dr Misheck Sibanda

Business Editor
The Office of the President and Cabinet will launch a new tool: the Client Service Charter Compendium in a bid to push for the improvement of service delivery within public departments.

The Compendium empowers Zimbabweans to report service shortfalls and suggest ways to improve delivery of public services.

The Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet will unveil the Compendium at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda said putting in place a Client Service Charter was the first step in better meeting needs and expectations of the population.

“We have listened to people’s needs and we are answering the call. As servants of the public and taxpayers, it is the duty of each and every one of us to deliver the services our citizens and businesses need to thrive. Putting in place Client Service

Charters for each Ministry, department and public enterprise is the first step in better meeting their needs and expectations.”

Client Service Charters are in effect “social contracts”, stipulating the services offered by each ministry, department and public enterprise, the standards for service delivery and the rights and obligations of not only service providers (Government) but also service consumers (citizens and businesses).

“Most importantly, the Charters also give a say to citizens, by putting in place mechanisms not only for complaint-handling, but for positive feedback and validation when Government meets the standards expected of us.”

By ensuring that citizens always have a say in the way public services are delivered, the Charters provide a tool for continual improvement of the services

that citizens and businesses rely on to prosper.

“Actions by public institutions can no longer go unchallenged. The Charters set the bar for us across the whole of Government in providing ever more efficient and effective services.

“But for them to work, everyone must play their part. It’s a two-way street. Peoples’ voices and opinions are vital in this. We can only improve that which we know is not working well enough,” said Dr Sibanda.

Improving public service delivery is a work-in-progress for governments everywhere. In Zimbabwe, the Client Service Charter Compendium is the just the first step.

Government will be working to put in place user-friendly tools that make it easy for citizens, businesses and investors to alert Government to problems, suggest improvements and provide feedback on how we can ensure access to high-quality services.