Consumer Activism

CITIZENAND CUSTOMER ARE KINGS –THE IMPERTIVE OF CONSUMER ACTIVISM By Dumisani Nkomo 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 for Zimbabweans in all walks of life .Why should getting a passport be an achievement? and why should getting a drivers license be something of a miracle ? whilst getting a birth certificate or identity document be as difficult as going through the eye of a needle ?Many banks treat their customers like their slaves who owe them a living . Why has law enforcement by the police become the preserve of those who line the pockets of police officers .Only those with ZANU P.F caps and t shirts are able to get away from corrupt traffic police officers who have turned corruption into an institution .Why do pensioners get pittances whilst their funds have been used to build expensive shopping malls and other buildings whilst they continue to wallow in poverty after contributing to pension schemes for years only to be told that their savings were eroded with the disappearance of the Zimbabwean dollar .Why should bank tellers ,till operators and commuter omnibus operators treat us like they are doing us favors when their businesses would collapse without us their “valued consumers? .I would like to give a few personal glimpses of nasty experiences at the hands of service providers as well as broader challenges that citizen /consumers face at the hands of faceless and ruthless private and public institutions who have made rudeness a national occupation and corruption a way of life . The Police and The Criminal Justice System Almost a year ago I assisted a young lady[ actually a juvenile ] to report a case of rape and after physically reporting the case to a bunch of un co operative police officers at Queens Park Police Station ,I personally organized 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 the courts in spite of all the rhetoric about gender rights and the rights of children .The criminal justice system has virtually collapsed and both the law enforcement agencies and the courts appear to be unable or unwilling to deal with cases as the one I described above in spite off numerous attempts to push both the police and the courts to act .Is justice only for the rich or the corrupt? .The Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission needs to be brought in to investigate Corruption in the police force .Corruption in the Vehicle Inspection Department is well documented and legendary but has become a fact of life . Births and Passports 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 .One is made to feel they are applying to go to heaven by some of the officers concerned .Even going to heaven takes one to accept Christ into their lives but getting a passport ,securing an identity document can be quite a nightmare in independent Zimbabwe . .Why does it have to be so complicated in this world of technology it should literally take a few minutes ? .The process is as cumbersome as lobola with the applicant being treated like someone who committed some gruesome crime against some ancestor or the other .This is worsened by rude officers with no idea that the customer is king . Just last year I was quite horrified when attending a villagers meeting in Mthunduluka ,Plumtree when a an official from ZESA Holdings decided to address shocked villagers in a language they did not understand without apologizing or showing any sign of remorse .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 in Ndebele in Murewa is short of scandalous .Communication is essential in service delivery and 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 on his /her product when he/she does not understand the consumer of the service or goods? Pension and Depositors Funds Without funds from depositors and contributors banking institutions and statutory beneficiary social security institutions would virtually 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 crhist 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 Arica 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 Railways or NSASSA beneficiaries publicly lobbying for the responsible use of their funds through responsible investments. I remember at the height of the Zim dollar madness many companies and N.G.O’s lost funds in banks that had been placed under curatorship with some banks converting the depositors funds in foreign currency accounts into equity without the consent of the depositors .Others lost their life savings and investments .Is this not some form of legalized theft of depositors funds by vampire state institutions ? . Solutions I would like to suggest that in order to curb the rampant abuse of consumers ,customers ,contributors ,depositors and so forth the following be done : Consumer Activism We need more organized consumer activism with consumers organizing themselves to withhold their money from service providers who mistreat them .In order for this to work it has to be properly organized and should not lead to anarchy .The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe which is statutory body need to be capacitated to handle the needs of consumers to challenge the excesses of state entities and corporates . Shareholder/Depositor Activism Depositors should not blindly deposit their money into banks and allow themselves to be abused by some banking institutions .Efforts should be made to organize depositors so that their funds are safe and those who abuse depositors and their funds should be subjected to organized ,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 Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission 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 .