(MISA/IFEX) – Zimbabwe’s leading cellular phone service provider, Econet Wireless, has ceased offering Zimbabwean political news to its clients through its cellular phones. Econet had been providing political news to its clients through its text news service, called “Executive Briefing”. In a statement released on Thursday 15 November 2001, Econet advised its customers that the […]
(MISA/IFEX) – Zimbabwe’s leading cellular phone service provider, Econet Wireless, has ceased offering Zimbabwean political news to its clients through its cellular phones. Econet had been providing political news to its clients through its text news service, called “Executive Briefing”. In a statement released on Thursday 15 November 2001, Econet advised its customers that the service had been cancelled indefinitely, with immediate effect.
“This service will, however, continue to provide local [Zimbabwean] business and sports news, as well as international business and political news from such leading sources as the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the BBC, Reuters and CNN.
“Executive Briefing”, the only text-based news service of its kind in Zimbabwe, was introduced in February 2000, enabling Econet customers to receive news transmitted electronically via cellular phones through a short message service (SMS). In addition to the international news agencies, “Executive Briefing” relied on news from Zimbabwean newspapers such as “The Herald”, “The Daily News”, “Zimbabwe Independent”, “Financial Gazette”, “Sunday Mail” and “The Standard”.
Econet won its operating licence after waging a five-year legal battle with the Zimbabwean government. The company has since expanded to cover such countries as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Lesotho and Botswana. Econet’s Chief Executive Officer Strive Masiyiwa is now based in South Africa. His move from Zimbabwe was largely seen as a result of harassment by state security agencies over his alleged link with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Analyst have said that the move by Econet could be a result of the need to protect itself as Zimbabwe drifts towards a historic and explosive presidential election in 2002. On Friday 9 November, Masiyiwa issued a statement to the media in which he stated that he has no political ambitions. The government-owned newspaper “The Herald” had earlier reported that Masiyiwa was being asked by an MDC “faction” to lead the party in the 2002 presidential election. Masiyiwa is also a significant shareholder in the Independent Media Group, a company that has shares in the Associated Newspapers Group, and the holding company that publishes “The Daily News”.
In the opinion of MISA-Zimbabwe, the scrapping of the “Executive Briefing” service marks a step backwards in the promotion of freedom of expression in Zimbabwe. The service afforded Zimbabweans, pressed by harsh economic conditions, the opportunity to read and share information without having to buy newspapers. The service also played a key role in affording Zimbabweans the opportunity to access a wider selection of information.
