Resisting Political Corruption:
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe
8 - 16 March 2014 - The Observer
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Abstract
his case study documents the story
of Zimbabwean entrepreneur Strive
Masiyiwa in his quest to obtain a
mobile telecommunications license.
First the Post and Telecommunications Corporation
of Zimbabwe (PTC) and then the Ministry of
Information, Post and Telecommunications of the
government of President Robert Mugabe place
obstacle after obstacle in his path, but Masiyiwa
challenges their decisions and actions in the
High Court and the Supreme Court. Throughout
this five year process (1993-1998), he remains
determined to obtain the license through ethical
means. A number of individuals and organizations
impressed by his values and come to his help and
this assistance, along with the independence of the
Judiciary, is instrumental in his firm being given
the license in July 1998. The case represents an indepth study of a successful example of resistance
to political corruption.
(Continued from last edition ..)
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10 The challenge to the tender outcome
conet now presented a 100 page
letter to the Government Tender
Board (GTB), which was made up
of senior civil servants and came
under the Ministry of Finance, outlining its
objections to the award of the license to Telecel.
One point of contention was that whereas
the tender document had specified the GSM
technology, Telecel had submitted a proposal for
the incompatible CDMA technology. Another was
that Telecel had misled the GTB by stating that it
was the largest cellular operator in Africa; Econet
challenged this claim, pointing out that South
Africa’s MTN and Vodacom were the continent’s
two largest operators. Upon receiving the letter, the
Chairman of the GTB instructed Telecel to stop
all action arising from the license award until the
complaints of Econet and the other bidders had
been addressed. He then asked the Minister of
Information Mujuru not to confirm Telecel as the
winner of the tender process, and gave her three
weeks to respond to Econet’s complaint point by
point. This decision by the GTB was received with
disbelief in government circles. A week after the
three week deadline established by the GTB had
expired, Mujuru refused to respond – “There is
no point in providing you with a point-by-point
response to the appeal. The Tender Board has
no power to suspend the license as the Chairman
purports to have done25.”
There were also allegations of a conflict of
interest against Minister Mujuru: in addition to
her husband being a business associate of James
Makamba, a leading member of the Telecel team,
it was also reported that she had been listed as
M