Former Norton legislator and now village head, Temba Mliswa, has called for the urgent adoption of Elon Musk's Starlink, satellite internet service, to accelerate development and bridge Zimbabwe's digital divide, particularly in rural areas.
Speaking at the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) and Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) Annual Media Stakeholders Conference in Harare, Mliswa said Starlink had the potential to transform the country's education and access to information.
"Starlink is a game changer and if this country and government wants to make progress without any delay, Starlink operational in the schools, in the communities," Mliswa said
Mliswa gave an example of his own village as a model of how technology can be used to advance rural communities.
"Fortunately, I invite you to my village where I have turned it into a modern village. We are on the zero, in terms of electricity, we are off-grid we make use of solar energy. I have fiber internet and it is for the community. The children who come from school, I have built a gazebo for them to be able to be connected to the rest of the world," he said.
The former legislator argued that bringing Starlink to schools and rural areas, where over 70% of the population resides, is key to unlocking development and giving rural communities access to global opportunities.
"If Starlink was operational you just have to put it at the school," Mliswa said. He said any significant progress in Zimbabwe's development and communication infrastructure depends on expanding such technology to rural areas.
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Mliswa also highlighted the political implications of enhancing digital access in rural areas, emphasizing that rural voters play a critical role in the country's elections.
"The rural vote is large, it's more distant, it's more loyal. So, any political party can dominate in the urban but as long as you don't have an inroad in the rural areas, that's when the results are coming in the urban areas you get excited and when the results from Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe comes 30,000 to 1,000 and this is a machine coming through. That's how you lose it in the rural areas," he said.
Mliswa believes that the digitalization of rural areas would not only modernize these communities but also empower them politically and economically.
"Once we have the digitalization in the rural vote and people access to social media, it will assist in a lot of ways and Starlink is the way to go. There's nothing better than that," he said
