Title: Building Trust through E-Government: Leadership and Managerial Issues
Abstract: Erosion of citizen’s trust in Government due to rampant corruption at various levels in the Government ought to be an area of serious concern for developing countries and development agencies. A well-planned e-government strategy can build a more efficient, accountable and transparent government. If planned in consultation with representation from key stakeholders, e-government applications can rebuild citizen trust in government, by improving service delivery, reducing corruption and empowering citizens to participate in advancing good governance. The paper discusses few examples of eGovernment where corruption was significantly reduced and draws lessons on leadership and managerial issues in deploying ICTs to combat corruption. What is Public Trust? According to an OECD report public service is a public trust 1 . Citizens expect public servants to serve the public interest with fairness and to manage public resources properly on a daily basis. Fair and reliable public services inspire public trust and create a favorable environment for businesses, thus contributing to well-functioning markets and economic growth. The OECD report identifies a number of core public service values as being important for building citizen trust. These include: impartiality; legality; integrity; transparency; efficiency; equality; responsibility and justice. Many of these core values have been compromised with the spread of corruption in its various manifestations in many developing countries. UNDP defines corruption as the misuse of public power, office or authority for private benefit – through bribery, extortion, influence peddling, nepotism, fraud, speed money or embezzlement 2 . Corruption is principally a governance issue – a failure of institutions and a lack of capacity to manage society by means of a framework of social, judicial, political and economic checks and balances. In the wake of globalization and increased pressures for improving “governing institutions,” there is a global demand for accountable and transparent governance. Strategies to Reduce Corruption Two major factors that contribute to the growth of corruption are the low probability of discovery, and perceived immunity against prosecution. Secrecy in government, restrictions on access to information by citizens and the media, ill-defined / complex and excessive rules, procedures and regulations can all lead to a low chance of discovery. A lack of transparency in the functioning of government agencies can make it easy for the perpetrators to cover their tracks thus making unearthing of corruption very difficult. The weak character of institutions which are supposed to investigate charges of corruption and prosecute the guilty, as well as an inefficient or corrupt judiciary further exacerbate the problem of corruption and facilitate immunity of perpetrators against prosecution. Strategies to reduce corruption must therefore
Publication Year: 2004
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 6
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