A Zimbabwean on Twitter who goes by the name Freeman Chari revealed how World Remit refused to allow transfer for the funds to alleviate the crisis faced by Cyclone Idia victims in Zimbabwe.
Freeman Chari is leading a donation campaign to help the victims of the deadly storm in Zimbabwe. He launched a GoFundMe that has so far raised over $22,000. He approached World Remit in order to send this money to Zimbabwe. However World Remit refused to waiver the fees for sending the money. The online money transfer service also said that they could not accept third-party payments, in this case, payments from donors.
Freeman Chari wrote on his Twitter feed," You only know your true friends in a crisis. I approached @WorldRemit for a waiver on fees for us to send funds for cyclone relief in Zimbabwe. Their response shocked me. I have used them before & they send me Ads. Please retweet until everybody knows these guys are unAfrican."
He however said that he got into contact with the team at World Remit who said that they were reviewing his case. "UPDATE: Amy from @WorldRemit just gave me a call and is looking into our case to open some doors. This being the case, we give diplomacy a chance again. There are also other companies in the same space that have reached out to see how they can be of help. Will keep you updated! 👏."
The initial response from World Remit has been viewed by many as very cold and devoid of any compassion and empathy for those who are suffering and in need of genuine, urgent help. The amount of money donated just goes to show how Zimbabweans have united in order to provide relief for the victims who have been devastated by the cyclone.
World Remit is an option for many in the diaspora when sending money back home. Their response provoked the ire of Zimbabweans. Alex Magaisa wrote, "I have already served notice on @WorldRemit. If they do not reconsider their stance on transfer of Zimbabwe disaster relief funds I’m done with them. And I won’t be quiet about it either. Their conduct in the circumstances is cold-hearted."
Header image credit - worldremit.com