CCZ Chief Executive Officer, Rosemary Mpofu
BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) reports that it has introduced mobile consumer complaint clinics to ensure that people in communities can easily report unfair business practices and consumer rights violations.
Rosemary Mpofu, CCZ Chief Executive Officer said the organisation had made a deliberate shift from waiting for consumers to visit their offices, to actively going into communities to collect complaints.
“We have made a deliberate effort not to wait for consumers to visit us, or to approach us, in terms of getting these complaints.
“We have made it deliberate that we also go out there as CCZ in order to get complaints from consumers,” said Mpofu.
She added : “we are now carrying out what are called consumer complaint clinics just like the way mobile clinics in the health sector operate where we actually go to people.
“And this is what we are doing in all the provinces and all the districts.”
According to Mpofu, the outreach programme has contributed to a sharp increase in the number of complaints received by the organisation.
She revealed that CCZ recorded 2 022 complaints in the first quarter of this year, while the figure rose to 3 503 complaints in the second quarter.
“I’m sure in terms of the rise in complaints, perhaps is because of the complaints harvesting initiatives that we are undertaking at CCZ.”
She said many consumers previously struggled to access complaint handling services because of distance and transport costs, but the mobile clinics were helping bridge that gap.
Beyond complaint collection, CCZ is also strengthening efforts to protect consumers from counterfeit goods through technology and public awareness campaigns.
Mpofu said the organisation had developed a digital verification platform that allows consumers to scan products using their mobile phones to determine whether they are genuine.
“Consumers will be able to scan a product with their phone to tell if it is a genuine product or not.
“Already we have various companies that have come on board onto the platform,” she added.
