My Companies Were Complying With The Law When They Blocked The Internet But I am Praying And Fasting For You Says Strive Masiyiwa

The Founder and Chairman of the Econet Wireless Group, Strive Masiyiwa wrote on his Facebook Page yesterday concerning the internet blackout in Zimbabwe on the same day.

Unfortunately, most Zimbabweans (whom he addressed in the post) could not access that message and still can’t because access to Facebook and other social sites has been blocked in the country. The block was of course made effective by the compliance with the directive by Econet who are the biggest internet service provider as well as Liquid and ZOL also owned by Masiyiwa.

The businessman said if they had refused then management would have been arrested on the spot. Here’s his statement which includes a promise that he is praying and fasting for the three countries where the internet has been switched off with the compliance of his companies:

#Message to our Zimbabwean, DRC, and Sudan
members of the platform:

This morning I was informed that the authorities in Zimbabwe have directed that all Internet services be shut down.
As it was a written directive issued in terms of the law,
non-compliance would result in immediate imprisonment of management on the ground.

Last week we were issued with a similar order in the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC].

We complied as directed.

Whenever such directives are issued, management call in the legal teams, and review them in terms of the law.

#I’m fasting and praying for Zimbabwe, DRC, and Sudan today…

We have staff in all these countries, and we love our customers.

Please, please, stay safe.