Mwinyi directs executives to solve people’s problems

ZANZIBAR President Hussein Mwinyi has reminded the executives at all levels in the government to do more in tackling complaints from people.

Revisiting ‘Sema Na Rais—SNR’ initiative that loosely translates as ‘Speak to the President’ two years since its introduction, Dr Mwinyi said as much as the government has attained remarkable success in almost all sectors, still there was a room for further improvements.

The system of communicating problems directly to the Zanzibar president is aimed at swiftly solving the challenges facing ‘wananchi’.

In his live programme address through the Isles public television-ZBC-TV added: “We have recorded success in the past two year, but there is still much to be done to ensure challenges facing our people are quickly addressed.

“I direct the executives to be accountable. Unnecessary delays should be discouraged…all complaints that can be resolved within a short time.”

Dr Mwinyi said that despite achievements in the past two years, there are some executives in public offices who are not doing enough in responding to people’s complaints.

Hence, he warned that he will not spare any found to be on the ‘business as usual’ attitude, adding that much more focus should be on problem solving.

Elaborating, Dr Mwinyi said that he was prompted to establish the initiative that was then followed by the recent Presidential Delivery Bureau (PDB) so as to ensure execution of the identified priorities on the most appropriate time.

The president further said that PDB was established to identify obstacles, identify resource scarcity and accelerate implementation of development programmes for wananchi.

He said the government has identified four priority sectors—blue economy; tourism; infrastructure; and social development—for speedy and efficient implementation of the 2020 general election pledges to wananchi.

Dr Mwinyi said he wants performance reports frequently and people be given feedback about their complaints, adding that he will personally make impromptu interventions including making visits and talking to people directly through phones.

On his part, Mr Haji Khamis- Manager SNR said that they have been doing well with the programme, where so far 7,566 complaints (equivalent to 77 per cent) out of 9,829 filed have been closed, further saying some 2,263 are pending (about 23 per cent), and 1,208 failed to meet criteria.

“Many people are now using the telephone and APP system, but still there are challenges of improper use of the system and some of the complaints are incomplete. We continue to raise awareness so that more people use the system and also send complaints with clear evidence,” Mr Haji said.

Commenting, PDB Director of Communications, Mr Mohamed Mansour said that since the launch of the bureau on December 2, last year, they have been working closely with SNR.

“We have been working closely with SNR and other stakeholders to achieve the goal of delivery of better services. PDB is making follow-up to ensure proper implementation of the projects with quality and value for money,” he said.