Minister of Industries, Mines and Energy Modestus Amutse has directed state-owned enterprises and officials within his ministry to dismantle bureaucratic bottlenecks and prioritise online service delivery in order to reduce costs and improve access for the public.
Amutse said current service delivery systems place unnecessary financial burdens on citizens, particularly unemployed young people who are often required to travel long distances to submit applications in person.
He said this practice runs counter to government’s stated objectives of efficiency and inclusion, noting that existing legal and administrative frameworks already allow for digital transactions across many government services.
“Why should a young person have to travel 500 kilometres simply to submit an application to register for a service? That is no longer efficiency. It is wasteful and it does not take into account what an unemployed young person must spend just to travel to and from an office to submit a single application,” Amutse said.
The minister said bureaucratic procedures in sectors such as mining have grown beyond what is necessary for accountability and transparency.
While acknowledging the need for checks and balances, he said many requirements could be shortened or redesigned without weakening governance or oversight.
Amutse said excessive documentation discourages participation and creates barriers for citizens who are expected to play a role in economic development.
“These bureaucracies were not created by the people. They were created by us, in our offices. And who has the responsibility to amend them, to make them more user-friendly and easier for the people? It is us,” he said.
The remarks were made during an introductory and engagement session between the minister and implementing state-owned enterprises within the ministry’s portfolio.
