Government unveils phone and e-mail snooping laws

By Lance Guma
29 May 2006

A government gazette on Saturday unveiled a proposed law that is set to give Robert Mugabe’s regime the power to spy on phones and e-mails. Although the government argues the law is meant to protect national security and fight crime, critics say it is actually meant to stifle criticism of the regime. The Transport and Communications Minister Christopher Mushowe published via the gazette a general framework for what they will call the ‘Interception of Communication Bill.’ If the bill goes through parliament they will have power to monitor phones and e-mails under the guise of protecting national security.

Government says it will set up a ‘ communication centre to monitor and intercept certain communications in the course of their transmission through a telecommunication, postal or any other related service system.’

Although the bill will include rights for affected people to challenge the so-called “monitoring warrants” in court, critics say it is a further setback for freedom of expression in the country. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa accused the government of being ‘desperate and morally bankrupt.’ He said they want to keep Zimbabwe ‘within the confines of an iron curtain,’ when the rest of the world is joining the global village.

The MDC says it has not been consulted over the drafting of the bill and will oppose it in parliament. Chamisa stressed that this was one of the reasons why their democratic resistance project was essential in the coming phases of the country’s political process. He said: ‘Twenty six years down the line they continue to cling on to stone age tactics,’ and this, he said, is why they have to galvanise the people into action. Chamisa claimed the government was already snooping on e-mails and phone calls anyway and all they wanted from the bill was ‘to legalize an illegality.’