According to a source at Zinwa, the authority issued the
directive last year through an email to its branches, which has triggered
speculation that the water authority is indirectly pushing for dollarisation
having been swamped with RTGS deposits which are losing valve each day.
Last year, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency
indicated that Zimbabwe’s economy had 78% dollarised on food purchases, which
observers believe is pushing organisations such as Zinwa to also pine for
foreign currency in transactions to remain viable.
“We received an email from the Headquarters instructing us
to only allow one card thus either swipe or Ecocash to make payment for a
single account,” the Zinwa source said.
“We were not given any explanation as to why the HQ
(headquarters) had enforced such a directive, but I suspect it had everything
to do with money collection. Most payments were being made in local currency
with little to no transactions being made in USD due to disparities between the
interbank rate and the black market rate.
“We are against the directive. It’s creating unnecessary
paperwork for us, yet making it difficult for locals to pay their bills.”
Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager
Marjorie Munyonga confirmed that a directive had been issued.
She however, said: “The Authority did not, at any time, bar
clients from making payments using their bank cards, but instead restricted the
usage of bank cards to one account in compliance and observance of the National
Payments Systems Act, which prohibits third-party payments,” she said.
“In that regard, Zinwa only barred clients from using
multiple bank cards to pay for one account and from using one card to make
payments for multiple accounts.
“In instances where genuine cause existed, such as when a
client owns more than one account or where tenants took turns to pay their
water bill, Zinwa staff were empowered to exercise discretion under the
auspices of the Know Your Customer principle, which also permissible under the
Act.
“Even in the face of the directive, clients could still
make payments in the currency of their choice and have their bills denominated
in the local currency. Clients remain able to make payments using mobile
platforms such as OneMoney and Ecocash in addition to the use of bank cards and
other payment platforms.”
Zinwa, created through the Zinwa Act as part of the
government’s efforts to reform the country’s water sector, is a wholly
State-owned entity tasked with managing the country’s water resources. Newsday
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