EcocashSave is illegal, says former RBZ top official

Bikita West MP Munyaradzi Kereke has charged that EcocashSave was illegal and violated the country's constitution and banking laws.

Kereke distributed a document: Advisory Memorandum to Econet Wireless Steward Bank and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on the Inherent Legal Risks Pertaining to the EcocashSave Financial Product, to more than 300 Members of Parliament and government officials attending pre-budget seminar in Victoria Falls, including central bank governor Gideon Gono.

In the document, Kereke charges that the Econet deal stripped the public of the protection offered by the Banking Act, adding that the EcocashSave terms and conditions effectively violate the provisions of the Constitution which confers to every citizen the right to protection by the law.

He pointed out that Steward Bank, which is owned by Econet Wireless, disclaimed any liability arising from the breakdown of its own systems or from its own staff's negligence "because Econet Wireless is the deemed parent owner of the EcocashSave product, then a much deeper violation of the Banking Act unravels."

Kareke added that the country's banking laws restricted the acceptance of deposits strictly to licenced banking institutions.

"Econet Wireless therefore cannot legally accept deposits from the public, even in electronic money form. The advice to the RBZ, Econet Wireless and Steward Bank is that they must quickly realign the provisions of the Terms and Conditions of the EcocashSave product to be consistent with the provisions of the law or needlessly risk penal applications of the law," said Kereke.

"This can be avoided through carefully thinking through and streamlining the innovation of the EcocashSave Platform without retrogressively shutting it out."

Gono could not immediately comment on the issue. Econet Wireless declined to comment. However, at the launch of EcoCashSave Gono said: "When we celebrated the launch of EcoCash two years ago, lots of mischief followed that event. Little did we know, and the public is not aware, of the fires that were created soon after that launch. The central bank was attacked. A lot of tags were attached to the launch. "One day, when we have time to reflect and put those times into some memoirs, people will be very surprised.

"You would have been picked up. I would have been picked up, if our law enforcement agents had not been educated enough to see mischief.

"A lot was said. It was said the product is a political product that will be used by Econet to determine voting patterns against a certain party. It was said this was a conspiracy by Econet to send out money to voters and bribe them when the time comes, and the governor is part of this conspiracy.

"Various economic formulas were developed which were meant to get the politburo and my President not only to fire the governor, but also to shut down Econet and EcoCash. Of course our wise leaders were able to see through this mischief. Today, we launch EcoCashSave, let the same mischief begin. I simply want to encourage you to just plod on."