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Zim’s 70,2% citizens are satisfied with govt services – Cabinet

By Staff Reporter

A total 70,2% of Zimbabweans are overally satisfied with services offered by most government departments, Cabinet revealed Tuesday.

The report on the Citizen Satisfaction Survey and Baseline Survey on Work Culture Transformation, 2023, was presented by the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Honourable July Moyo.

Cabinet noted  that the survey is in line with His Excellency the President, Cde Emmerson  Mnangagwa, and the Second Republic’s operational values of servant leadership, and citizen-centric interventions emanating from citizen engagement and inclusivity.

As such, the study gathered information on citizens’ and employees’ perceptions regarding Zimbabwe’s public service delivery system as well as the current work culture among public servants in accordance with set Page 5 of 10 dimensions. The data gathered through these surveys is important for improving policies, systems and procedures in order to enhance service delivery. Notably, the survey included gathering information on the behaviours, attitudes and knowledge of public service employees from citizens, Government employees and stakeholders in all the country’s 10 provinces, 72 districts and from all the Government Ministries.

“A sample of 5 920, comprising 4 750 citizens and 1 170 civil servants was chosen. Cabinet informs the nation that the study found that the overall Satisfaction Index (level of satisfaction) was 70.81% compared to the 67.78% recorded in 2022,” cabinet said this week.

The improvement was attributed  to the following indices which were rated in the “strongly satisfied” category:

 Assurance, 76.90% in 2023 compared to 72.52% in 2022; Empathy, 75.6% in 2023 and 71.37% in 2022; Responsiveness, 72.35% in 2023 and 66.96% in 2022; and Reliability, 71.25% in 2023 and 67.18% in 2022. However, there is need to better the indices falling within the “satisfied” category, that is, ICTs infrastructure and Equipment; Inclusivity and Gender and Location.

The overall Employee Satisfaction Index was 72.66% compared to the 69.17% recorded in 2023. Civil servants perceived themselves to be highly empathetic, assuring and reliable towards citizens. The 2023 survey dimensions of Empathy, Assurance and Reliability had indices of 79.85%; 79.16% and 75.57% were all higher that the 2022 indices of 75.45%, 75.71% and 75.10%, respectively.

 The five top rated Ministries, Departments and Agencies were as follows: the Public Service Commission, (citizens-77.47% and civil servants75.42%); Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Wildlife, (citizens-73.70% and civil servants-73.22%); Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, (citizens-73.12% and civil servants-73.73%); Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, (citizens-75.30% and civil servants-76.25%); and Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, (citizens-72.87% and civil servants 72.85%).

Only two Ministries, that of Local Government and Public Works, and National Housing and Social Amenities recorded decreases in their satisfaction indices, while all other Ministries improved in their citizens’ ratings in 2023.

Most provinces registered improvement in the 2023 Citizen Satisfaction Index with the exception of Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Masvingo. Regarding employee satisfaction, most provinces recorded improvement, with the exception of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East and Matabeleland North.

“ Meanwhile, the overall Work Culture Transformation Index in 2023 was 73.20% compared to 69.09%, with the average work culture transformation scores for the relevant dimensions ranging from 54.35% (working from home) to 82.00% (work ethics). Government will, nevertheless, endeavor to improve on the ICTs; Wellness, Inclusivity and Gender; and Attitude dimensions of the Work Culture Transformation,” the survey said.

 As part of the improvement thrust, over 2 000 civil servants recently met in Gweru for a week-long Inter-Ministerial Sports Tournament, which goes to show the importance Government is placing on Wellness.

“Overally, members of the public will appreciate that the survey shows that the citizens are generally satisfied with the delivery of public services as the transformation of the Public Service continues,” added Cabinet.

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