Resisting Political Corruption:
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe
The Observer - 23 March 2014 - 9
T
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 ..)
conet received a pleasant surprise in
its preparation for the court hearing
to challenge the award of the license
to Telecel. One of Econet’s lawyers
checked the marks that had been awarded to
Econet and to Telecel for the different criteria laid
down in the tender specifications, and found that
the GTB (Govenment Tender Board) had made
a mistake in adding up the marks to arrive at the
final total. If the addition had been done properly,
then Econet should have won by a narrow margin.
This discovery made a huge difference to the court
hearing, because a legal opinion from the judge was
no longer necessary; the challenge to the Telecel
award could be substantiated on factual issues
alone.
E
11 The final victory
The dates for the High Court hearing of
Econet’s appeal were set for September 18 and 19,
1997. After the hearing, Justice Sandura’s assistant
informed the press that because of the huge
amount of documents that needed to be studied,
a decision would be made only by the end of the
year.
The High Court’s decision finally came on
December 31, 1997 – Justice Sandura revoked
the license awarded to Telecel, and ruled that the
second cellular license be awarded to Econet. By
this time, Telecel had already started installing its
infras