“We have come to this stage because someone slept on his job. The law is very clear that no company can get a licence without paying licence fees”. -Chinamasa
MOBILE operator Telecel Zimbabwe, whose operating licence was cancelled last month over alleged non-compliance with the country’s regulations, should not have been allowed to operate without a licence and its current problems were a result of failure to observe the rule of law, finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.
Regulator Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) cancelled the mobile phone operator’s licence on 28 April, and gave it 30 days to wind up operations and another 60 days to decommission its equipment.
On Thursday, the firm got a temporary reprieve to continue operating after High Court judge, Justice Nicholas Mathonsi suspended the cancellation pending finalisation of its legal fight with Potraz.
Telecel this week insisted that it was following a payment plan for the licence’s renewal agreed with government that allowed it to continue operating.
But officiating at an annual congress of the Zimbabwe Association of Pension Funds (ZAPF) in Victoria Falls, Chinamasa said somebody had “slept on duty.”
“We have come to this stage because someone slept on his job. The law is very clear that no company can get a licence without paying licence fees. At some point Telecel indicated they had no money and if people were doing their jobs properly, the company couldn’t have been allowed to operate,” said Chinamasa.
“The law was specific and clear which is why the licence was not issued but the question is, how was Telecel then allowed to operate?”
He said this was a sign of lack of rule of law and that the move by Potraz was belatedly trying to correct the anomaly.
Telecel is Zimbabwe’s third biggest mobile operator with over two million subscribers. Amsterdam-headquartered communications firm VimpelCom owns 60 percent of the firm, with the remaining 40 percent being controlled by Empowerment Corporation (EC), a local consortium. -The Source
Meanwhile FinX reports that the High Court granted Telecel Zimbabwe an interdict against the 30 day special licence on the basis that the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) had acted in an overzealous manner.
This means POTRAZ would suspend the 30 day licence period until the application is finalised.
High Court Judge Nicholas Mathonsi ruled that the matter was urgent and POTRAZ had acted overzealous without due regard to the rights of the stakeholders in this matter.
“It has in fact issued a regulatory order which ignores the rights of the applicant’s appeal to the minister to provide the court’s concession according to Section 1 of the act.
“Meanwhile I have granted a provisional order and hearing date set at May 13,” he said.
Telecel on Tuesday filed an application at the High court under the certificate of urgency contesting the order pending an appeal to the minister of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services Supa Mandiwanzira.
In its application, Telecel cited POTRAZ as the first responded, ICT minister, Chief Secretary in the office of the President and the Empowerment Corporation Private Limited as the second, third and fourth respondents respectively.
Gerald Mlotshwa from Titan Law firm representing Telecel had earlier on argued that the matter was urgent and should be heard before May 28.
Mlotshwa said the appeal had to succeed because over 700 hundred families would be affected as a result of the shutdown.
He said the Company’s rights to protection in property and to protection of business were infringed pending a determination by the minister.
“I submit that this court cannot ignore the interest of the employees “We are paying millions of dollars in terms of taxes that is why Potraz’s attitude surprises us. I submit that the balance of convenience must favour the applicant because there is no prejudice,” he argued.
He also argued that the indigenisation laws only came into effect in 2008 whilst Telecel started operating in 2008 hence should not affect their operations.
However James Chikobvu Muzangaza representing POTRAZ argued that the matter was not urgent and applicant should have taken remedial action well in March if he treated the matter as crucial.
He said Potraz conduct was lawful and the 30 day period was reasonable. He said the minister was enjoined to deal any decision passed by the regulator and described the application as an abuse of the courts.
Through its representative Empowerment Corporation Private Limited argued that the minister of Indigenisation failed to do his job to initiate steps for the cancellation of any operation licence for want of compliance.
Meanwhile, Telecel’s majority shareholders Vimpelcom met Mandiwanzira on Tuesday where the Minister described the talks as good.
Mandiwanzira said the future of Telecel was ‘orange’ and bright after the encouraging talks with the officials.
Vimpelcom holds a 60% stake in Telecel Zimbabwe although they had put it up for sale. Frontrunners of the stake included Unitel and MTN.