Technology / Software
Zimbabwe has the highest number of pirated software
04 Jun 2011 at 13:25hrs | Views
A leading Information and Communication Technology expert, Clement Kahiya, says 90 percent of all Zimbabwe's software is pirated.
His revelations have, however, remained a closely guarded secret by the Government of Zimbabwe - fearing much embarrassment.
"Six countries in the world were mentioned in a report prepared by the Business Software Alliance in May 2009," said Kahiya, who has more than 20 years in the ICT industry and is currently Kingdom Financial Holdings Group Projects, Business Development and Marketing Executive.
"Out of those six, three countries were mentioned which had pirated software and Zimbabwe was among those three. I can tell you that 90 percent of all Zimbabwe's software is pirated," he told a conference last week.
Atwell Makusha, President of the Computer Society of Zimbabwe confirmed that there was a lot of pirated "stuff in the country right now".
He appealed to the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Welshman Ncube, to investigated companies that are mushrooming and selling computer software and yet have not been given the go-ahead by the CSZ.
"As a society we are very worried," he told Ncube, who attended the one-day ICT meeting in Harare.
"Can the government do something about this because it is getting out of hand? There are many fly-by-night briefcase companies purporting to be computer experts who are just ripping off customers in broad daylight. Could this be investigated please minister?" asked Makusha.
An embarrassed Ncube replied that it was "very difficult" to monitor companies and how they conduct their business.
He said his ministry would, however, "look into the serious issue" that had been brought to his attention. Ncube also said that as the government was "seriously broke" he could not do much for the ICT sector right now.
"Government is still using paper and so you can see for yourself the extent of the problem," he said.
His revelations have, however, remained a closely guarded secret by the Government of Zimbabwe - fearing much embarrassment.
"Six countries in the world were mentioned in a report prepared by the Business Software Alliance in May 2009," said Kahiya, who has more than 20 years in the ICT industry and is currently Kingdom Financial Holdings Group Projects, Business Development and Marketing Executive.
"Out of those six, three countries were mentioned which had pirated software and Zimbabwe was among those three. I can tell you that 90 percent of all Zimbabwe's software is pirated," he told a conference last week.
Atwell Makusha, President of the Computer Society of Zimbabwe confirmed that there was a lot of pirated "stuff in the country right now".
"As a society we are very worried," he told Ncube, who attended the one-day ICT meeting in Harare.
"Can the government do something about this because it is getting out of hand? There are many fly-by-night briefcase companies purporting to be computer experts who are just ripping off customers in broad daylight. Could this be investigated please minister?" asked Makusha.
An embarrassed Ncube replied that it was "very difficult" to monitor companies and how they conduct their business.
He said his ministry would, however, "look into the serious issue" that had been brought to his attention. Ncube also said that as the government was "seriously broke" he could not do much for the ICT sector right now.
"Government is still using paper and so you can see for yourself the extent of the problem," he said.
Source - Zimbabwean
