Botswana’s mobile subscriptions are an ideal platform for deployment of mobile-government (m-government) strategies to reach a broader population base, officials have said.

Minister of transport communications, Nonofo Molefhi, who was speaking in parliament, said the country’s mobile subscriptions which are currently 3 million can be used to reach people.

“Various government ministries and departments have taken advantage of the opportunity to reach their customers,” said Molefhi.

The minister added that m-government has been rolled out for utilisation in departments such Civil and National Registration, which now use mobile platform to notify customers on status of their applications.

The development has also been extended to other departments such as the ministry of Education and Skills Development to notify students of the examination results and the Road Transport and Safety department for reminding customers of the expiry dates for vehicle licenses.

“The m-government initiative indeed has great potential and offers varied opportunities to a diverse clientele,” he said.

However, according to reports the m-government initiative is often criticised for delivering messages repeatedly and mostly in the early hours of the morning.

According to Molefhi m-government is part of the broader e-government strategy, which seeks to create access to a range of government services, strengthen public service efficiency and promote civil participation.

Botswana’s national e-government strategy was initiated in 2011 to 2016 with president Ian Khama committing to be a regular user of e-government services.