Exploring the Implementation of E-governance at the Road Transport and Safety Agency: A case study of Ndola Office Zambia

Abstract

This paper explores the implementation of e-governance at the Road Transport and Safety Agency in Ndola. From inception the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has been offering their services manually therefor experiencing challenges such as having members of the public to physically visit the agency to access the services, resulting in long queues and delays in processes. In order to improve efficiency and mitigate these challenges, in 2017 the Zambian government launched an Electronic Zambia Transport Information System (e -ZAMTIS). A system which was meant to carry out all RTSA functions. A qualitative case study research through in-depth key informant interviews and focus group discussions was carried out. This study reveals that some services offered by RTSA such as road tax have been decentralised, therefore could be accessed at other outlets that have partnered with RTSA. It was further observed that despite the zeroing into e-governance implementation at RTSA the services are not yet accessed within the confinement of the client. The study concludes that more needed to be done in the implementation of e-governance at RTSA because even if the website, toll free lines and Whats App lines were available they were mainly for informative purposes meaning that one had to physically visit RTSA offices or its partnered institutions to complete the transactions. The study therefore recommends for the e-governance system to include more services which members of the public could access within the confinement of their space and the publication and sensitization of the system to make the public aware of its existence.