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| Many people attended the consultations at Mucheke Hall |
Ratidzo Munembi
People in Masvingo are divided
over the controversial Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill which government
wants to pass in law in its current state.
At a consultative meeting held at
Mucheke Hall on July 06, and hosted by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on
Information and Communication Technology and Courier Services, residents were
starkly divided in their defence and critique of the bill.
Those who supported the bill
claimed it was critical in the fight against fake news and in preventing political
uprising against the government.
Joel Mukusha, a lecturer at the
Great Zimbabwe University (GZU), said the bill could not have come at a more
opportune moment as the country faced what he claimed were malicious online
activities aimed at fomenting chaos in the country.
“We want the bill to be passed
into law as soon as yesterday. There is nothing wrong with this bill at all
because all its provisions are designed to protect the country from illegal
activities that happen online. Many countries are now in chaos because they
failed to effectively regulate their cyberspace. Many people are using the
internet to instigate violence and chaos.
“Wars are no longer fought using
guns and other hardware alone, but using ICTs too. As a country, we are under
siege and we need to take action,” said Mukusha.
He was supported by others
including Zanu PF youth league member Charles Munganasa who said the cyberspace
was a new frontier for works of destabilization.
“A few weeks ago, America accused
Zimbabwe of using the internet to instigate violent protests in that country.
You can now imagine our own vulnerability as Zimbabwe if a superpower like
America could be shaken by the internet,” said Munganasa.
However, people who opposed the
bill pointed to its many defects including what they said was its utter failure
to protect whistleblowers.
“A law must be designed to
protect citizens and not government. The moment such a role is reversed, repression
takes root. Section 31 of the bill must be redesigned so that it protects
whistleblowers, not criminalize or leave them vulnerable.
“In the name of separation of
powers, which is a key tenet of a real democracy, we also want an independent
cyber security centre and data protection authority which will be accountable
to parliament and not to a minister. PORTRAZ cannot be trusted to play that
role in a neutral manner because it is a state-controlled institution open to
abuse by ruling party politicians,” said Jeffyson Chitando, a member a member
of the opposition MDC Alliance party.
Another resident said, if passed into
law in its current form, the bill would infringe on free expression online and
will be used to persecute dissenting voices.
“The bill wants the government to
play prosecutor and judge at the same time; you can’t be a neutral arbiter in
such a situation because you are both player and referee.
“Besides, the use of such
technology as key-stroke logger and other forensic tools to obtain individual
data for investigation purposes must only be done in clearly-defined situations
and within stipulated limits that respect personal privacy and other rights
enshrined in the constitution,” said the resident.
