Category: Legislation
Tanzanian website owner arrested for not disclosing online members personal details
Co-founder of popular Tanzanian website Jamii Forums has been arrested under their Cyber Crime Law for not disclosing members personal data following requests from the police. Their offices were raided on the 14 of December 2016 where the co-founder, Maxence Melo, was picked up by police while other staff members were questioned. Jamil Forums is one […]
Looks like we’ll be having a Bio-metric voters roll in 2017
On Thursday, the UNDP flighted a tender in the Herald calling on bids for the Procurement of Biometric Voter Registration Kits. The tender by the UNDP is in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission under the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Capacity Building Project (ZIM-ECO). The tender can be found on the UNDP website for any interested bidders. This is […]
Here is what the RBZ told banks in its circular No. 05-2016/BSD on reducing bank charges
The RBZ sent out a circular on the reduction of cash withdrawal charges to all banking institutions. The circular, No. 05-2016/BSD, states the background to the decision to reduce the bank charges, the revised cash withdrawal charges and cash withdrawal limits and even shows the exorbitant fees charged as of 5 December 2016. See below: […]
Barclays Zimbabwe clarifies bank charges issues, says it was caused by a system delay
On Monday the RBZ issued a directive to all banks operating in Zimbabwe to change their bank charges effective 12 December 2016. The new bank charges for cash withdrawals at an ATM or over the counter are now set at 1% and 1.25% respectively. The directive between the RBZ and banks was communicated via a […]
Minister of ICT accuses mobile operators of externalising forex, makes strong case for unified gateway as solution!
According to a report published by the Chronicle today, the Minister of ICT, Supa Mandiwanzira, has accused mobile operators of “fleecing” the country of foreign currency through understated international calls. Addressing Parliament on the issue, the Minister stated that Government did not have the necessary equipment to monitor incoming and outgoing calls creating a technical grey area […]
What happened to the peaceful demonstration to Econet HQ?
Two weeks ago, Ms. Sihle Maxine Mabuda sued Econet Zimbabwe for $50k (USD) on allegations that the mobile network operator had misrepresented its daily data bundles. She argued that Econet was misleading the public by calling the “daily” bundles insinuating that their life span was a day (24 hrs) when in fact they were capped […]
Biometric Elections in Zimbabwe – Managing the Risks
The intention to introduce a Biometric Voting System (BVS) in Zimbabwe for the 2018 elections by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should be applauded as a step in the right direction. The fact that the introduction of the system has been done after calls from the opposition and other experts including this author, for introduction […]
We tried to talk to her- Econet
Yesterday we were all surprised to find out that Econet, Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network operator, has been dragged to court by a disgruntled subscriber over what she claims to be the misrepresentation of the duration of its WhatsApp daily bundle product. The plaintiff, Ms. Maxine Mabuda, is suing Econet for $50,000. She claims that Econet […]
Same woman suing Econet once sued Telecel back in 2013! Yes, for $50k as well!
In a surprising twist of events, it has been brought to our attention that the same woman who is currently suing Econet for alleged misrepresentation of its social media bundles through false advertising once sued Telecel for $50,000 back in 2013. According to a Herald report back in 2013, Ms. Mabuda sued Telecel for the alleged wrongful […]
The biggest telecoms issue in Zimbabwe is now a reality, welcome SI 137 of 2016: the Infrastructure Sharing Regulation
The Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, has, after consultation with the Regulating Authority (POTRAZ) passed a new regulation, Statutory Instrument 137 of 2016 for Infrastructure Sharing. which applies to telecommunication license holders in Zimbabwe. The regulations were quietly passed on Friday 4 November on what is probably the biggest telecoms issue in Zimbabwe. […]
Zimbabwean Parliament to debate draft ICT laws as President cites growing threat of cybercrime
The Parliament of Zimbabwe is expected to debate 3 pieces of draft legislation on cybercrime, electronic transactions and data protection as the government prepares to deal with increasing cyber threats.
Bond notes will arrive early November
According to a report published earlier today by the Financial Gazette, the much anticipated Bond Note will begin circulating early November 2016. In an interview with FinGaz, RBZ Governor Dr. John Mangudya clarified previous reports of its release this month by confirming that marketing of the bond note would begin on the 31st of October and […]
Zambian government raids Liquid Telecom ISP in hunt for political news site
A report on a Zambian news website says the Zambian government raided the offices of a Liquid Telecoms ISP last week in a hunt for the servers hosting a news website called Zambian Watchdog. It’s a whistleblower website that the government (under different leaders) has not liked very much and has tried to censor in a number of ways for years. […]
Fed up with cops, Zimbabwean road users have adopted this Google tool to monitor roadblock corruption
Zimbabwean road users have adopted this Google tool to monitor police roadblock corruption.
Government to create Computer & Cybercrime Management Centre to deal with crimes like social media abuse & cyberterrorism
Judging from how State officials have spoken out against cybercrimes sin the past few months, plus the offences highlighted in the draft bill, this Cybercrime centre will play a lead role in dealing with cases as grave as cyberterrorism to other common offences like pornography and social media abuse.
Zimbabwe’s plans to outsource computerization of 3rd party insurance to a Nigerian firm questioned
Earlier today The Herald reported plans by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development to engage a Nigerian firm, Courtville Investments, and link them to the ZINARA database to handle the computerisation of third party insurance cover notes. According to its website, Courtville is: A foremost Nigerian e-business solutions and advisory company and the first in […]
Next deliberations on Zimbabwe’s draft ICT legislation to be held Bulawayo, citizens urged to participate
All three draft pieces of ICT legislation are still under review with the next consultative workshop set to be held in the City of Bulawayo on the 21st and 22nd of September 2016 at the Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel starting at 9am.
Guilty of spam? – here are 13 offences in Zimbabwe’s draft Computer Crime & Cybercrime Bill
That being said, we have listed 13 potential offences from the draft bill. Assuming that the bill isn’t altered to remove or adjust the clauses that relate to these potential offences, violating them could land you in some legal trouble.
Zimbabwe’s draft Computer Crime & Cybercrime Bill is updated as contributions are factored in – here’s the latest version
At the recent Computer Crime and Cybercrime Bill Workshop held in Harare by the Zimbabwe Institute of Engineers (ZIE)’s ZICT division, an updated version of the draft bill was used for deliberations. Here’s a copy of that version
Zimbabwean engineers contribute to draft cyber security bill, highlight privacy & criminilisation concerns
This process has included consultative meetings that the Ministry of ICT has been engaged in with various stakeholders. The Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers (ZIE) was the latest grouping to contribute to the drafting of this law.
Cyber Crime bill at work in Tanzania, 5 arrested for insulting their President
image credit: BBC Yesterday, 5 Tanzanian’s were charged with insulting their President John Magufuli on social media in some interesting cases of the application of their newly enacted Cyber Crime law. According to Tanzanian news outlet The Citizen, the five denied the charges against them and were released on bail with their hearings adjourned until the […]
NetOne’s illegal product and the penalties it could face
Recently NetOne released a mobile data bundle product called “The One“. The removal of the product raised a lot of suspicion as to why the MNO would remove a product that was arguably the best mobile data product available on the market at that time. We sought clarification from NetOne to no avail. So, we […]
POTRAZ’s subscriber database might not track you, but it can identify you
Recently, POTRAZ published an interesting call to tender in the press. The tender called for: Eligible bidders for the supply, installation and commissioning of a National Central Subscriber Information Database System (NACSID) and associated hardware and networking infrastructure A National Central Subscriber Information Database System? In simple terms, it is a National Directory of registered […]
Here are three examples of how the Government’s reversal of Chinamasa’s policy will affect technology
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa recently shared the 2016 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review Statement which outlined the State’s financial priorities. The statement included Chinamasa’s recommendations to limit government’s expenditure on salaries for the civil service which currently gobble up 97% of the national budget. This was supposed to be achieved through the suspension of bonuses and […]
Here’s a copy of Zimbabwe’s 2016 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review Statement
Here’s a copy of Zimbabwe’s 2016 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review Statement.
Zimbabwe’s legal system is being digitised with virtual sittings & electronic processing – here’s how it will affect justice delivery
Zimbabwe’s legal system is being digitised through virtual sittings & electronic processing. Here’s a look at how it will affect justice delivery and the feasibility of this shift.
Here’s Zimbabwe’s Censorship Act, the law that makes viewing, making and sharing porn illegal
According to Zimbabwe’s Censorship and Entertainment Act (which was instituted back in 1967), it is illegal to import, print, publish, manufacture, make or produce, distribute, display, exhibit or sell or offer or keep for sale any publication anything that is deemed by the Censorhip Board to be indecent.
Here’s a copy of Zimbabwe’s draft Data Protection Bill, the law meant to protect you from data theft
One other piece of ICT legislation that’s also on the cards s the draft Data Protect Bill. It’s meant to be the piece of legislation that governs how personal information is processed by public and private entities while guarding against the illegal collection and use of personal data.
Here’s Zimbabwe’s draft e-transactions & e-commerce Bill
If you want to check it out and understand some of the proposals that are being made to regulate online transactions and e-commerce in ZImbabwe you can download a pdf copy of the bill by following the link below.
Opposition leader & high profile lawyer Tendai Biti vows to fight Zimbabwe’s draft Cybercrime Bill in court
Tendai Biti, the president of Zimbabwean opposition party People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the country’s fomer finance Minister has said that he is going to fight the proposed Computer Crime and Cybercrime Bill in court.