By Solister Mogha
Minister of Lands, Deus Gumba has assured Malawians that his ministry has made improvements in digitalising its systems for effective and efficient delivery of services in land matters.
Speaking during a training workshop for lands sectors and land registrars in Zomba on Monday, Gumba said his ministry was one of the ministries that were overwhelmed with manual record keeping that sometimes went missing or destroyed during fire accidents.
Since the launch of land information management system, a lot has changed and Malawians can now access all the information required digitally, according to Gumba.
“What we want is that Malawians everywhere in the country should be able to access our services within their localities without physically visiting our offices. We don’t want scenarios where people should wait for years to access information but rather have the information at a click of a button,” he added.
Gumba described the training as crucial considering that it aimed at equipping lands staff with relevant knowledge and skills.
“Provision of land services has gone digital and it is a must that we equip our officers with modern technologies for them to serve Malawians better,” he said.
He said rolling out of digital systems will apart from taking its services closer to people, minimise corruption and delays.
Secretary for Information and Digitilisation, Baldwin Chiyamwaka said the ministry was working tirelessly to ensure the country is well connected to the internet.
Chiyamwaka said as Malawi is digitalising most of its services, effective and efficient connectivity was a must.
“I wish to report that we have made strides with the backbone connectivity and very shortly we should be done. Not only that, through our service providers, we are making sure that the internet is perfect and closer to people,” he added.
Chiyamwaka also said through the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), the ministry is establishing labs in secondary schools that will act as satellites in rural areas and also erecting more towers across the country for easy connectivity.
Land Registrar for Machinga, Bashila Kananji said the training will equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge.
