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Want some insight in Namibian politics? I am no expert but have 16 years (1995-2011) of writing on Namibian politics in The Namibian newspaper and can probably offer you a bit more than you know about the who's who in the Namibian political zoo. You will also find a few articles commenting on other issues of concern in the country. Hope you find it interesting. - Christof

Monday, April 18, 2011

Come On, Interceptors, You Can Do Much Better!

I HAVE become a threat to the country’s democracy, or so it seems.

My mail is tapped (illegally, I must say) but the worst is that they forget to deliver the SMS or e-mail messages after they are intercepted, or deliver them only three to five days later.
I knew that the radical Communication Act contained the good, the bad and the very ugly.
I was one of those who opposed the section on interception vehemently, but Information Minister Joel Kaapanda then dismissed our worries and claimed that the law would not bring fundamental changes to information-sharing.
He described our concerns about interception as distortion of facts and said reports by The Namibian on that section of the Act were sensational reporting aimed at misleading the public.
According to him the Act has a lot of “good things and opportunities” and it is “popular in the eyes of many people”.
“I want to point out that the requirement for a warrant to conduct interception is an absolute necessity based on the law that gives the right to intercept,” he said in an interview with Swapo’s mouthpiece, Namibia Today.
Only those involved in criminal activities needed to feel threatened, as that part of the Act would be used to monitor the activities of criminals, he said.
According to the Act, the National Intelligence Service must get a warrant from a High Court judge before interception takes place. They must have material evidence about a suspect’s criminal activities and such behaviour must be deemed as a threat to the country’s security before they approach the judge, the Act states.
My concern at that stage was the lack of detail on such warrants.
But Kaapanda said we should not “fear constant monitoring”.
We left it there and the Bill became an Act very quickly as it sailed smoothly through both the National Assembly and the National Council.
My experience now justifies my fears back then.
Constant monitoring of telephone calls and delays of days in the delivery of SMS messages and e-mail have plagued not only my work but also the communications of some people I know in my craft as well as political contacts.
Many who know their e-mail and text messages are being intercepted regard our ‘intelligence’ as a joke.
I remember making a call home one evening. My wife answered and as soon as I realised that someone was listening to our conversation I told her in Damara/Nama that she should say “bye” in English but not switch off. Both of us said “bye” but continued holding on only to hear the listener disconnect first. We had a good laugh!
But of late, it is not just about listening in on conversations.
When SMS and e-mail messages are intercepted, read, and not passed on promptly, I worry about the lack of professionalism in the intelligence service.
As they do some things illegally, like not getting the warrants, you would expect that they would act more speedily.
Some of us who have become an alleged threat to the country’s security do things that are time-bound, such as producing a newspaper on time for printing.
Never mind our rights to privacy! We also have deadlines and if the State security agents keep on delaying our mail as they do regularly, our readers, like President Hifikepunye Pohamba who buys the paper first thing in the morning, will not be happy about getting it late.
That is why it is unacceptable when some of the secret agents in intelligence now regularly forget to pass on the intercepted mail. It sucks, really!
They can do much better.

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