Founder of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Strive Masiyiwa is one of the people behind Kwese TV, which the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe recently said does not have a valid broadcasting license. This came only a few hours after Econet Wireless had announced that Kwese TV was finally here.
Here are five things you may not know about Strive Masiyiwa.
1. At the age of 12, Strive Masiyiwa was sent to a private school in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1978, he came back to Zimbabwe intending to join the guerilla forces who were fighting to liberate Zimbabwe from colonial rule. However, he was advised by senior officials to return to school so that he could help build the country after independence. He returned to school in Britain and graduated with a degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Wales in 1983.
2. After independence, Masiyiwa returned to Zimbabwe and worked for the Zimbabwe Posts and Telecommunications Corporation from 1984 to 1988 as a senior engineer, then as a principal engineer.
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3. Strive Masiyiwa was abducted by the Central Intelligence Organisation in 1990, as he was coming from the Mozambican embassy in Harare. He was taken to a secret detention centre although he was released later on that night.
4. After being denied a licence to form a mobile network, Masiyiwa challenged the government in the High Court, Supreme court, Constitutional court and then back to the lower court and was eventually awarded the licence after 5 years of court battles. The licence was awarded in 1998.
5. Masiyiwa went into self-imposed exile in South Africa in March 2000. Speaking of his decision to leave, Masiyiwa said:
I personally did not have a happy relationship with the government – I decided that I was better off relocating and working from South Africa.
Learn more about Strive Masiyiwa here