ZESA out: Still can’t buy ZESA using Ecocash

If you have been trying to buy ZESA through ECOCASH over the past few days, then you would probably have hit a brick wall. For some reason, ZESA has disabled payments through the Ecocash platform and over the internet. A few days ago, I was forced to walk all the way to ZESA Wayne Street because I could not buy electricity using my phone as I usually do.

When I got there, I discovered that I was not the only person in distress. Hundreds of people had congregated to the place in a bid to buy tokens for their prepaid electricity meters.

Buy ZESA through ECOCASH: Working overtime

The fortunate bit was that ZESA was working overtime, with the result that 2 hours later, at around 1700HRS, I left the place after having successfully bought my token.

What’s the issue?

Both ZESA and ECOCASH are being cryptic about why you can no longer buy ZESA through ECOCASH. I got a message a few days ago mentioning the problem, but there was really nothing in it. The lack of information has given rise to speculation, with over imaginative Zimbabweans using the time in the queue to discuss this and that;

• The problem, according to one lady in the queue, was deliberate because the Government did not wish to have people watch the supreme court hearing in which the opposition is challenging the president’s election. Needless to say, as a comment, that this allegation is probably without merit, considering that it was the government itself that appeared eager to have the hearing flighted live on ZBC.
• Ostensibly, the problem had to do with the fact that ZESA is not happy with the amounts that it has to pay to Econet and to banks for selling it’s electricity tokens. The company, therefore, reportedly now wishes to make the sales on it’s own. On analysis, this could be a much more plausible reason why people have not been able to buy ZESA through ECOCASH. However, all things considered, it’s still rather farfetched. ZESA does not really have the capacity to sell it’s electricity on its own, and cutting merchants out of the loop would really be taking customers for granted.

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