The new payment system has seen mobile phone service providers charging in United States dollars after being granted foreign currency licenses by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. The new system will adversely affect the communication needs of the majority of Zimbabweans who are already struggling to make ends meet in a hyperinflationary environment which has spawned untold economic hardships on the populace.

MISA Zimbabwe noted with great concern that the latest development comes in the wake of the appalling state of fixed and mobile telephone networks in Zimbabwe which has seen subscribers failing to communicate as and when they desire despite the high tariff charges.

MISA-Zimbabwe shared the concerns of subscribers who said they will not be able to afford the new payment mode as the little foreign currency they can lay their hands on is reserved for basic commodities which are now being sold in foreign currency by most retail outlets. While supermarkets and other service providers are now charging in foreign currency, the majority of workers are still being paid in the ever increasingly valueless Zimbabwean dollar.

MISA Zimbabwe reiterated its earlier concern that the state of affairs in the telecommunications industry is a serious impediment on the right of the people of Zimbabwe to communicate; as well as their right to freedom of expression as guaranteed in Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. This right includes the ability and access to usage of tools of communication such as the Internet, fixed telephones and mobile telephone networks.

Source: MISA Zimbabwe

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