High Court grants Econet request to stop ZRP from seizing customer database

The High Court of Zimbabwe has granted Econet’s urgent chamber application to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgment which would allow law enforcement authorities to seize Econet database of customers.

The Judge who made the ruling -Justice Edith Mushore- is said to have “slammed” the warrant, comparing it to Rhodesian law enforcement conduct;

#BREAKING A judge has slammed a warrant authorising police to seize entire database of Econet customers. “This is not Rhodesia!” Justice Edith Mushore said while granting Econet a stay of execution. Advocates Thabani Mpofu and Tafadzwa Mapuranga appeared for Econet pic.twitter.com/bVTrSejJvy

— ZimLive (@zimlive) July 22, 2020

Econet had challenged the warrant on the following basis;

1. It violated Econet’s right to privacy and the right to privacy of its 11+ million subscribers;
2. The warrant was too vague (it did not specify which premises where covered and the officer who would execute the warrant);
3. Chris Mutsvangwa’s affiliation to the Minister of Information further complicated the situation.