Editor, In both public and private sector institutions, the topic remains “customer care”; some institutions are jumping on this bandwagon while others are still doing things the same old way. A case in point is the office in charge of “Extrait du Casier Judiciaire” certificate in the Prosecutor General’s Office. The practice there is rather unacceptable. When you enter the office, you find a crowd, either waiting for their certificates or struggling with the security officers in the corridor. Guess what, there are two sample forms glued on the wall and people crowd around the forms trying to copy: i) The exact form in ink and later;ii) Fill that form. In the first place, this is not proper because to apply for Extrait du Casier Judiciaire certificate, one has to pay a sum of Frw 1200, which should afford him/her at least a computer-designed form as opposed to a hand-written one- which you have to write for yourself! These forms can be put on the website, where people can download them, and bring them when they are already filled. Once the forms are on the website, ensure you make it known to the public through the media. The other place I wish not to go to is the Notary’s office at Kimihurura sector, in Gasabo District. After toiling the whole day looking for the ‘extrait du casier judiciaire, I went to Kimihurura and found about 50-60 people there. Some waiting for their papers to be taken for notifying, other waiting for their documents to be returned and others like me, stranded because they could not get a number that assured them that they would be served that day. We were advised to come the next day. I tried to reach anyone in the office of the notary, but I could not, because there was a local defense officer who was charged with, among other things, explaining the procedures involved. He told me that the people, who were seated, had arrived at that office as early as 5a.m.! He advised me to come back the next day as early as possible. Why can’t district authorities decentralize these services to all sectors? Because of all the time I wasted, I ended up missing the deadline of my job application. Let’s castigate poor service delivery in our institutions and condemn the officers who are perpetuating poor customer care standards. Name withheld on request
