AWAY from the madness of Zimbabwean politics is an equally maddening phenomenon of the erosion of consumer rights, the death of customer care and the virtual collapse of quality service delivery at all levels.
NO HOLDS BARRED WITH DUMISANI NKOMO
Why should getting a passport be an achievement? Why should getting a driver’s licence be something of a miracle? Why should getting a birth certificate or identity document be difficult?
Why do police officers give preferential treatment to those who line their pockets? Only those with Zanu PF caps and T-shirts are not stopped at roadblocks by corrupt traffic police officers.
Why do pensioners get pittances and wallow in poverty while their funds are used to build world-class shopping malls? Why should bank tellers, till operators and commuter omnibus crews treat customers like they are doing them favours? I would like to give a few nasty experiences I have had at the hands of service providers.
The police and the criminal justice system Almost a year ago I assisted a juvenile to report a case of rape. After reporting the case to unco-operative police officers at Queens Park Police Station, I organised transport for the police officers, the suspect and the victim.
For the past eight months we have been shuttling from the police station to the courts and up to now the case has not even seen the light of day in spite of all the rhetoric about gender rights and the rights of children.
The criminal justice system has collapsed and the law enforcement agencies and the courts appear to be unable or unwilling to deal with cases.
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The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) needs to be brought in to investigate corruption in the police force. Corruption in the Vehicle Inspection Department has also become a fact of life.
One of the most traumatic things to have to go through is the process of either securing a new passport, replacing a lost one, or renewing an expired one. Why does it have to be so complicated when it should take a few minutes because of technology?
Just last year I was quite horrified when I attended a villagers’ meeting in Mthunduluka, Plumtree. An official from Zesa Holdings decided to address shocked villagers in a language they did not understand.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with speaking in any of the national languages, including Shona or Ndebele, but surely for one to address a group of villagers in Mangwe in Shona or Ndebele in Murehwa is scandalous. Communication is essential in service delivery.
The police and parastatals are especially notorious in showing little or no respect for local languages. How then does the provider of the service get feedback?
Without funds from depositors and contributors, banking institutions would collapse. There should be equal diligence in accounting for funds of depositors, contributors and tax payers as there is in soliciting or collecting these funds.
I was impressed with pensioners from Brethren In Christ and Mennonite Churches in Canada who in 2010 lobbied the Canadian government to investigate the conduct of mining companies they had invested in.
They argued that the mining companies based in Canada with operations in East and Southern Africa had contributed to the displacement of thousands of locals and environmental degradation.
As conscious investors through pension funds, they then lobbied the government through a Private Members’ Bill for a piece of legislation to compel mining companies to be socially responsible. Although not totally successful, this was an example of shareholder activism. Imagine pensioners from the National Railways of Zimbabwe or NSSA beneficiaries publicly lobbying for the responsible use of their funds?
I remember at the height of the Zimbabwe dollar madness many companies and non-governmental organisations lost funds in banks that had been placed under curatorship.
Others lost their life savings and investments. Is this not some form of legalised theft of depositor funds?
I would like to suggest that in order to curb the abuse of consumers, customers, contributors, depositors and so forth the following must be done:
We need more consumer activism with consumers organising themselves to withhold their money from service providers who mistreat them.
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, which is a statutory body, needs to be capacitated to challenge the excesses of State entities and corporates.
Depositors should not blindly deposit their money into banks and allow themselves to be abused by some banking institutions. Those who abuse depositors and their funds should be subjected to organised, non-violent consumer resistance.
State institutions should be schooled in tenets of the new Constitution such as the Chapter on Public Administration and Leadership which outlines how public institutions and public officials should behave.
Constitutional bodies such as the Zacc should urgently investigate the culture of corruption in most if not all public institutions. Companies should send their employees for customer service training. This is not an expense, but an investment which will increase their returns.
The customer is king. Dumisani Nkomo is an activist and opinion leader
