A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for Award of the Degree of Master of Public Administration of Mzumbe University
Despite the fact that e-government has got more blessing than harms to both citizens and government at large, it is still not well implemented in the developing countries including Tanzania due to several factors. The main factors include low efforts by the actors especially the main actor, government. This study was conducted purposely to assess factors affecting the use of e-government services at the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) as its study case. The study concentrated on the five specific objectives; to explore current status of the e-government initiatives at NECTA; to examine awareness and usage of e-government applications at NECTA; to find out the influence of organizational resources on the use of e-government; to find out the influence of stakeholders on the use of e government and; to examine challenges faced by NECTA in using e-government. The study applied case study design whereby NECTA was used and 100 respondents were selected by using random, purposive and convenient sampling techniques. The study applied random sampling technique to senior and junior NECTA Staffs, purposive to management team and convenience to NECTA Customers. The study employed questionnaire, interview guide questions and focused group discussions as a means of data collection. The study found a gap on awareness between NECTA employees and NECTA customers caused by unsatisfactory efforts by NECTA, government and other stakeholders. The study also found that NECTA suffers from shortage of fund, shortage of ICT technicians, shortage of ICT devices, unreliable network and electricity and application of out dated technology in its attempts to deploy e-government. The study also established that, lack of funds is the challenge which causes others challenges. It is concluded that, much efforts have to be done to ensure that awareness to both customers and NECTA employees is well disseminated and ICT skills and competencies are well imparted to NECTA employees and customers. The study also concludes that, the government should provide NECTA with enough funds as requested by NECTA based on its goals in order to eliminate the challenges. Lastly, the study recommends for NECTA, government and stakeholders to connect their efforts to cultivate awareness and disseminate ICT skills. The government in collaboration with stakeholders such as schools, colleges and university, should make sure that students are imparted with practical ICT skills and competences and making sure that ICT subject is well taught from primary level to university level.