Spy Bill to trace Nghifitikeko

THE Chairman of the National Council Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, Jhonny Hakaye, yesterday came out in support of the controversial Communications Bill.

Hakaye was adamant that it is in the country’s interest. He added that the bone of contention with regard to the bill lies in the constitutionality of intercepting electronic communications. He blamed the media, especially the print media, for telling the public that the bill was not a good piece of legislation and that Namibians must not allow this bill to be passed.According to him, ‘the media did not misinterpret Article 13 (2) of the Constitution, but abused that Article against the bill’. Article 13 of the Constitution protects people’s right to privacy. Hakaye said Namibia continues to lose cases due to a lack of evidence as a result of the fact that there is no law in place to enforce information control and storage.’Not so long ago, Namibia was bombarded with anonymous letter writing by a ghost like Nghifitikeko, till to date we cannot lay the claim that we have traced the origin of such letters,’ Hakaye said.He added that all those who participated in the public hearings on the bill did not object to the principle of the bill and that every participant mentioned in one or other way that it was high time for Namibia to have a kind of information controlling and monitoring mechanism in place in the interest of national security and the promotion of healthy competitive practices in the ICT field. According to Phillemon Ndjambula, the interception centres to be established will enhance democracy. ‘I think the notion of no security threats in Namibia is over, having in mind the 1992 [sic*] Caprivi secessionist attempt,’ Ndjambula said.He added that ‘interception is the effective way to guarantee democracy and in today’s world you cannot grant your country peace and stability from people who want to carry out criminal and terrorist sabotage and activities without the said system in place, you can only timely prevent it by intercepting.’ Ndjambula continued that democracy could only flourish if the country was protected by a surveillance system. Hakaye said the bill was aimed at reforming and liberalising the ICT sector to reduce ICT costs, expand infrastructure, enhance service quality, attract foreign investment and improve access to skills and development. The debate will continue today.* The Caprivi secessionist attacks took place on August 2 1999. tileni@namibian.com.na