President’s Spokesperson Says Investors Don’t Need Internet, They Need Peace

This is not an April’s fool’s joke or a headline from 1997. The President’s Spokesperson, George Charamba came out and said that investors coming to Zimbabwe have no need for the internet.

During an interview with Capitalkfm the President’s spokesperson said:

Let’s not over dramatise. Investors don’t need the internet when they come to Zimbabwe. They just need peace.

George Charamba’s comments come as the man has been on a spree of making controversial and confusing comments. A week ago the man warned the public that not everything coming from the President’s Twitter account should be believed. What makes this statement even more confusing is the fact that the government seems to have failed to provide both peace and the internet.

These comments are quite startling and I can imagine what investors think when they read such comments from the President’s spokesperson. This essentially means if an investor were to visit the country to assess the viability of any project and the government decided to switch off the internet that investor would be ok with the following:

• Not having access to emails or inexpensive communication tools for business.
• Not having inexpensive communication tools to contact his/her family.
• Unable to research or keep up with the current events during his/her stay in the country.

The President’s spokesperson seems to be speaking without realising that he acts as a mouthpiece for the President and similar to how the Information Ministry came out and opposed his statement on the President’s Twitter account, there might be need for some damage control with these latest statements.