Electronic Records Management in Government Departments and Parastatals in Zambia

• Elijah Muntanga,*  
• Tuesday Bwalya

Abstract

Traditionally, records have existed as print sources of information. Therefore, many records in most government departments and agencies in many developing countries such as Zambia remain paper records. However, as countries push to implement the concept of e-governance, government departments and agencies are deploying electronic records management systems (ERMS) to manage electronic records. The study employed a survey research design, exploiting purposive sampling method to sample 50 government departments and parastatals. Data was collected from 42 records officers, registry clerks, or officers in charge of managing records through a questionnaire. The collected data was analysed quantitatively using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Findings reveal that the majority 76% of government departments and parastatals in Zambia kept e-records. Only 24% indicated that they do not keep e-records. The study also shows that the adoption and use of ERMS in government departments and parastatals in Zambia is not widespread. For example, only 9.5% of government departments and parastatals in Zambia have deployed EDRMS commercial software such as TRIM and HP Records Manager. The study further established that inadequate funding was the greatest challenge towards the effective management of e-records, alongside issues such as the absence of clear policies, laws, and standards, lack of qualified staff, inadequate end user ICT infrastructure, and lack of senior management support and corruption. However, the fact that less than 10% of government departments and parastatals in Zambia keep e-records on centralised systems such as ERMS, is an indication that e-records management is not prominent in Zambia. This means that the public sector organisations in Zambia are still lagging behind in terms of transitioning to formalised e-records management practices. In this regard, management in government departments and parastatals should procure centralised ERMS, train staff in e-records management, and develop clear policies for e-records management.

Keywords

Electronic records, electronic records management, government departments, parastatal institutions, Zambia