SW Radio Africa

Not content with violently invading farms and other businesses, ZANU PF has now begun invading the privacy of Net One mobile phone subscribers, by sending messages telling them to sign the so-called anti-sanctions petition.

One message sent without the permission of the subscribers was; "The time has come for every Zimbabwean to sign the petition or dial 0044 7893227001 for the removal of illegal sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States of America."

A Bulawayo man has become Zimbabwe's first "Facebook arrest" over an innocent comment he posted on the social networking site on the 13th February.

Vikas Mavhudzi of Old Magwegwe, is being charged with "subverting a constitutional government" after he posted a message on a Facebook page allegedly belonging to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mavhudzi's message simply read: "I am overwhelmed, I don't want to say Mr. or PM what happened in Egypt is sending shockwaves to dictators around the world. No weapon but unity of purpose worth emulating, hey."

The Constitutional Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC) is allegedly embroiled in a new crisis, with a source saying that the main computer server has been hacked into and important details changed and 'distorted'. The information on the server contains the views of Zimbabweans across the country about what they'd like to see in a new constitution.

A group of cyber-activists have shut down Zimbabwe government websites in retaliation for Grace Mugabe's legal action against the Standard newspaper. The government is the latest target of cyber attacks by supporters of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, which in recent weeks revealed that Grace Mugabe and other top ZANU PF officials were involved in illegal diamond trading. The story has been widely reported on but Grace Mugabe vented her anger on the Standard, suing the newspaper for defamation.

Zimbabwe entered a new digital era last week Friday when the largest mobile phone network Econet Wireless launched its mobile broadband package available to their estimated 4.5 million subscribers.

Econet CEO Douglas Mboweni said this was the most ambitious project they had undertaken since 1998 when the company was launched adding the broadband would be pivotal in reconstructing the country's economy.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti last week Friday released over US$6 million for the laying of a fibre optic cable, connecting the country to the Beira undersea cable in Mozambique, in a project expected to dramatically boost internet speeds.

According to Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa, the country is on the verge of becoming an 'information tiger of the continent with Zimbabweans able to send and receive high volumes of video, data and voice; access 3G and 4G because of the increased bandwidth.'