We were tagged in a tweet by The App Guy – @zimexapp (real name Washington Mkombodzi) who was notifying us about an application/website in development called the Zimbabwe Married Men Database. Now, the first thing that crossed my mind is that as men in Zimbabwe have we failed so hard that an app developer sees the need to create a database to catalogue married men to be searchable upon command? I’ll let you all answer that in the comments.
Anyway, since that platform is still in development we reached out to Washington to give us more information about it.
How to register
According to Washington, when the platform is up and running you can register your spouse by providing their ID, a marriage certificate where available and or pictures from your lobola. So pretty much what we expected to be part of the registration procedure but there are some concerns we had and we shared them with Washington to see how they will be addressing these. I mean… after all this is sensitive information that is going on in a public forum…
The internet is filled with people who for a lack of a better term, “have more time than they know what to do with“. We have seen some internet trolls ZOOM bomb government meetings during the pandemic and even impersonate people on social media. The internet is a blessing, but the curse is that the human imagination can play within the bounds of any kind of technology taking what may have been made with good intentions somewhere sinister.
1. Can someone register me without my consent or with fake documents?
Now, imagine someone tries to play a dirty trick on you and registers you as married or in a relationship with someone you don’t know. This could complicate things if this website takes off and people are cross-referencing you and your name pops up as married or in a relationship.
As I am sure many guys are aware, this is something that will be very difficult to explain to your would-be or present significant other. Even if the verification process requires someone to confirm either via email, SMS etc. Anyone can register you through a dummy number they have because most Zimbabweans have two or more sim cards for a variety of purposes.
Furthermore, someone can easily fabricate the documentation and sign you up. There are so many low-effort editing tools out there that this is a breeze for most people…
To this issue, Washington said, “there will be a link to take down a submission“. The process is not long according to what we were told: “if a person proves they are not married to the person who submitted the info, it will be taken down immediately“. Additionally, this is a platform that he says is for couples so if the other party will need to consent to be on the database or they can go through the takedown process.
And in the event that someone or a couple wants their information taken down altogether they can do so…
2. Is the information stored on the Zimbabwe Married Men Database safe?
The question begs yet another question… Shouldn’t this be something the government spearheads? By this I mean if there is anyone who should be doing this then it is surely the government, right? They have this information at their disposal and would be better placed to run something like this. I say this because Tanzania in 2019 was said to be looking into something similar to curb infidelity.
“I have been receiving complaints from women who have been promised marriage by men, yet the men didn’t fulfill the promise. I know women who have been paying bills yet the men walked away… If possible we will set up a database in the regional commissioner’s office in each region that every man who promises a woman marriage, this should be registered in the database which will allow women to check to see whether the person asking is married”
Paul Makonda, Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (via CNN)
I am not knocking what Washington is trying to do but leaks have plagued companies as large as Facebook over the years with information as sensitive as contact details of people including Mark Zuckerberg’s phone number making its way onto a forum on the web. The security of any information that is voluntarily offered is an issue that I and many others. To that concern, Washington said that the Zimbabwe Married Men Database will be on Amazon Web Services to store the information. Now, this isn’t an ironclad thing but at the very least using a platform that is tried and tested…
Let me know what you think
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments because the concerns we raised aren’t the only ones…
36 comments
Hie guys this is not related to the above story but I just want to ask kut ndoitasei kana ndichida kuposter my story on techzim!
This article yatanga ichiti, “‘We were tagged in a tweet’ by The App Guy – ‘@zimexapp (real name Washington Mkombodzi)’ who was notifying us …”. That sentence alone gives you atleast 2 options to get you started.
You can also get more information on the contact us page:
https://www.techzim.co.zw/contact-us/
Thank you
Also through tips I guess
https://www.techzim.co.zw/tips/
I hope this platform inoteera kwakaenda InnBucks 😂
Make it an African wide initiative. It cannot be men alone, include ladies too.
Those who register marriages in Church or Court can be captured as those are public records.
A woman who stays with a man can insist that they register to safeguard other women/men from being duped by the same person. it is a wonderful initiative Registrations should be for free, only charge for searches.
Interesting. Imagine a future where the next step after rusambo is joining the database, pics and all😂
Yes, this must be spearheaded by the AU Special Envoy for Marriages. It should also provide for DNA results where a woman has been wed as consequence of pregnancy. We must safeguard the woman, from marrying the wrong man. 😁
I’m pretty sure this is illegal according to the latest data protection laws!
I’m sure the dual consent aspect partially addresses this. If its all managed like other social/dating sites & apps the legal exposure will be limited.
Ngaaasiyane nazvo
Might as well use a blockchain. This is a reality TV series in the making!
Whats funny is that someone thinks kuti this will help…percentage of those who are misled (kunzi ndiri single iye asiri) vashoma people vanotomhanyira vari married vacho, even wakapfeka ring …vanhu havasisina matyira
Hoo nhai
It will end in premium high quality Gucci tears 😭😭. Why can’t you make something productive than going after married data base. Zvinei nesu as a country. Married , divorced or single or whatever people will always be happy with anyone they want to be with.
Unfortunately, women don’t care whether a man is married or not. If he has a fat wallet she can be the 10th lady officially or unofficially hahaha
Now here’s a good place for us girls to find mablesser. Thanks to whoever developed this app.
Uyu anorwara uyu. Why don’t you create a data base for companies offering employment such that those unemployed can search or data base for business opportunities. Create something to develop Zimbabweans rather this useless ambition.
Tht app will be disaster
Aren’t there better apps to be made though? Iyi irikuita purpose yeyi chaiyo? Is it reaaally really vital to have?
Kana usingaide siyana nayo iwe
Knowing Zim the way I do, this is going to end up being a niche dating site; the developer should consider adding a blurb where the men talk about themselves, and perhaps a status feature :’-D
I have a bet.
This will never take off. Worst idea ever especially in Zim. You’re targeting vanhu vaitadzoshandisa InnBucks on their itels sticking to USSD. It’s only because TZ is looking for a story this one shud’ve ended up on Twitter 🤦
Yes, this is a good initiative. It should only allow women who are registered to vote to submit, or search, then it’ll actually start being useful. 🤔 #RegisterToVote
Why are men so afraid about being out their about there being married,why does everything have to evolve over keeping their union a secret…unoda kuzozivikanwa Parufu or when collecting policies nepama visa …men own up and men up
Please pull this story, you are embarrassing us. Are these the only type of things our graduates are able to do after leaving school. Like why, what’s the reason. Can’t they make anything else. Can’t they spend their time doing serious work like inventing better algorithms or something.
And on the issue of security, like really, why hack a public database, it’s already public, meaning anyone and everyone can see who’s on it, which is actually the point if I’m not mistaken.
If you enter your details there, rest assured scammers will 100% use it for identity theft.
Sometimes I wonder why though, why are Zimbabweans like this
What for?
Can’t wait for the lawsuits. There are other matters too, such as telling a person to prove they are not married… how do you prove a negative?
Tht app cld be better used at the min of home affairs before people get married(database already there) but the legality of splashing such info on the internet is a whole can of worms.
Tht app cld be better used at the min of home affairs before people get married(database already there) but the legality of splashing such info on the internet is a whole can of worms.
Some women can be a crush ndoramba here , that site is the same as dating sites they don’t work kupatisana love ine connection at first sight
He should get Dr Amai to endorse this lol
Illegal agenda to post someone’s private information on a public platform, whether true or false. Kusungirwa zvinhu zvakapusa kudai. Let the ambitious young man focus on more meaningful agendas with his talent
KKK haha vakomana ma. Mface ITU asazo rega kuisa option yesu tine vakadzi 6-6 mabb ESE must know kuti ndadiwa nemurume chaiye kkkkk
Haiwawo…vakadzi hobho are comfortable kuenda pabarika. Muudzei asapedze time yake uyo.
Was this finally launched or the developer quit drugs