President, Lazarus Chakwera has emphasized the importance of Malawi’s digital information systems for efficient government service delivery to escalate country’s vision of achieving economic self-sufficiency and inclusivity.
Chakwera was speaking during the launch of two pivotal online systems dubbed the Malawi Business Registration System-MBRS and the Land Information Management System-LIMS respectively at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe on Thursday 29th February 2024.
The President described the joint launch of these two systems as a historic milestone towards realizing this goal.
“Malawi Business Registration System will improve efficiency in registration of business entities and consolidation of data around profit-making ventures. It will also enhance the investment environment at a time we are building a vibrant private sector as the main engine of economic growth.
“The Land Information Management System on the other hand has come about as a core component of the Agriculture Commercialisation (AGCOM) project being implemented in all parts of the country. Its prime benefit is the improvement of equitable land ownership and administration by all Malawians,” he said.
Chakwera also expressed his concerns over continued compromise around government data systems as observed recently elsewhere.
“I will not entertain any sort of laxity by duty bearers assigned to safeguard these systems,” said Chakwera in reference to the mess at Immigration Department.
Chakwera, however, extended his gratitude to the World Bank for their technical and financial assistance to make sure that Malawi adopts these two significant systems as part of the enabling tools of a prosperous Malawi.
The president stressed the importance of adhering to relevant laws and regulations to secure information systems and educating responsible officers on proper guidelines during security threats.
He further urged the Minister of Information, Moses Kunkuyu, to collaborate with the Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Colleen Zamba, to disseminate legal guidelines for securing government data systems to all ministries and agencies.
In his remarks, Minister of Lands, Deus Gumba, praised LIMS as a solution to land acquisition challenges.
Gumba, said two systems will provide the convenience of a one-stop centre for registration of land and businesses across the country.
He reiterated the essence of the two systems, saying they will support the government agenda of serving the citizenry with timely quality services.
He then disclosed that the Ministry of Lands will set up offices across the country’s cities to support operationalisation of LIMS and MBRS.
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