“No queues, no stress, more time for you,” quipped the BURS in the announcement that follows more than a year of piloting and testing involving select corporates. The BURS thus becomes one of the first public entities to offer e-government solutions, joining an elite group that also includes the online business/trademark search offered by the Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property. Through the BURS’ service, the forthcoming tax filing season – after June 30 – should be smoother for corporate entities, including tax-registered Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises who will now be able to submit their returns from the comfort of their offices.
This is the essence of the 2011 – 2015 Botswana National E-Government Strategy, which involves “moving all government services online, significantly improving public sector service delivery and speeding up ICT usage in the country”. It is in the pursuit of these noble goals that more than P500 million in funding has already been spent and billions more will undoubtedly be expended in capital and operating expenditure over the years. The e-Government Strategy outlines five major programmes and approximately 25 interrelated projects that will, collectively, move all appropriate government services online, significantly improve public sector service delivery, and accelerate the uptake and usage of ICT across all segments of society. Key service areas identified under the Strategy include the rollout of digital services such as e-Health, e-Learning, e-Statistics, e-Employment, e-Connect and the e-Tax Filing, proudly unveiled by the BURS yesterday. When the Strategy is fully operationalised, Batswana will be able to access more than 300 services through the government portal, with the delivery focused on clients’ needs rather than government structure. Services will include applying for visas, replacement of birth certificates, requesting building permits, applying for patents or trademarks as well as vehicle licensing, company registration and requests for moving livestock. Other services will include applications for a wide range of pensions, grants and benefits as well as payment of bills and taxes. Where Abraham Lincoln envisioned a “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” digital service delivery will bring government “to the people,” significantly reducing the red tape throttling many administrative processes in Botswana. E-Government’s implementation will be a boon to the country’s competitiveness, providing foreign investors and tourists with seamless and cost-effective access to services and information on Botswana. In light of the mammoth targets outlined by the Strategy, greater support is required for Botswana Fibre Networks Ltd and the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority, the two agencies providing e-government’s infrastructural backbone.
