Zambia’s Cyber Bills: A Stealth Attack on Freedoms, Warns MISA Zambia

MISA Zambia has slammed the proposed Cyber Security Bill and Cyber Crimes Bill of 2024, calling them dangerous instruments designed to strip Zambians of their hard-won freedoms under the disguise of cybersecurity.

Speaking at a tense stakeholders’ briefing, MISA Zambia National Coordinator Austin Kayanda did not mince words, warning that if passed in their current form, these Bills will open the floodgates for mass surveillance, state harassment, and the suppression of critical voices in Zambia.

“The government is trying to sell us poison coated as medicine,” Kayanda charged. “Yes, cybersecurity is necessary, but not at the expense of fundamental rights. These Bills will criminalize free expression, spy on citizens without judicial approval, and muzzle the press.”

MISA Zambia, backed by a formidable alliance of civil society organizations, expressed outrage that despite participating in last year’s consultations, government bulldozed ahead with a version of the Bills that ignores key recommendations to safeguard press freedom, privacy, and democratic accountability.

“The executive wants sweeping powers, unchecked and unaccountable. Why create a Central Monitoring Centre with the ability to tap, read, and store citizens’ private communications without clear judicial safeguards? This is not about protecting Zambians; it is about controlling them,” Kayanda declared.

MISA Zambia Chairperson Lorraine Mwanza Chisanga echoed the concerns, calling the Bills a “direct attack on Zambia’s democracy.”

She added that these laws risk turning journalists into criminals and ordinary social media users into targets of state security agencies.

Chisanga accused lawmakers of playing politics with basic rights. “It is unacceptable that vague provisions capable of criminalizing investigative journalism, political criticism, and even satire are still present. MPs must reject this assault on the Constitution.”

Kayanda further warned that placing the Zambia Cyber Security Agency under State House, rather than an independent oversight body, will render it a political weapon. “These powers will not secure the nation; they will secure ruling party interests,” he warned.

Civil society groups also condemned the Bills’ deliberate ambiguity. Terms like “cybercrime” are defined so broadly that a Facebook post criticizing poor governance could be enough to get someone arrested.

In a defiant tone, Kayanda urged Members of Parliament to stop acting as “rubber stamps” and remember that they swore an oath to protect the people, not to surrender their freedoms. “If they pass these Bills as they are, let it be known that they are voting against the people of Zambia.”

MISA Zambia and its allies pledged to continue mobilizing citizens to resist what they described as the institutionalization of tyranny. “We will not be silent. We will defend the democratic space, no matter how hard they try to shut us up,” Kayanda vowed.

The Bills are currently before the National Assembly, but civil society has promised the battle is far from over. “These Bills may look like laws, but they are weapons, weapons aimed at the people,” Chisanga concluded.

Editorial Note:

In the midst of a global struggle between security and civil liberties, Zambia’s proposed Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Bills stand out as a dangerous attempt to consolidate power under the guise of protecting the public. Civil society organizations, led by MISA Zambia, have raised the alarm, calling on MPs to abandon this assault on democratic freedoms. The question is, will they heed the warnings, or will the people once again be sacrificed at the altar of political expediency? As citizens, it’s time to step up and protect what’s rightfully ours.

March 30, 2025
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