Interception of Communication Act: The fear of a Zimbabwean

The interceptions will be done through the Information Centre, to be created under the law, but because government has no funding to purchase bugging hardware and software, it has legislated that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telecommunications operators should install the applications and help its spying mission.

Peter Mangena has switched from the official email address from his workplace, hosted by a domestic ISP, to an encrypted, web-based email service hosted overseas, even for business communication; but he's now wondering how to deal with eavesdropping on calls.

With an international address, he says, the Zimbabwe government cannot intercept his emails, as the services are hosted from outside the country and beyond the jurisdiction of the ICA.

However, the fixed telephone company, TelOne, is government-owned, and can easily snoop his calls by putting a wire to the exchange that switches calls; and the three mobile networks, one of which is government-owned, are compelled to put measures in place to listen to clients' conversations.

ISPs have started the process to comply with the ICA, installing equipment that will allow state access to private emails; they are, however, worried about the costs, which will limit expansion and curtail service enhancement.

The Zimbabwe Internet Access Providers Association (ZISPA), which previously opposed the legislation when it was put before parliament in July, has said it has no choice now that interception of private communication has been legalised. "We're putting in place measures to comply," said Shadreck Nkala, ZISPA chairman and group executive for Telecontract, which owns Telconet, an ISP.

There is now a growing phobia around phone calls, as gadgets of convenience have suddenly turned into spying instruments for President Robert Mugabe's regime, which alleges a Western-backed offensive to unseat his government from power.

While journalists, lawyers, politicians and human rights activists feel they're the ones specifically targeted by the new law, even ordinary citizens feel highly vulnerable, when even critical comments on Mugabe's economic policies can land one in jail.

As a result, many will not even allude to sensitive subjects regarding government over the phone. Just what information the snoopers will be interested in is not clear, but there are indications they might resort to legal edicts enacted over the past five years to limit democratic space.

The Public Order and Security Act (POSA), and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act undermine fundamental rights to free expression, forcing newspapers and journalists to register with the government-controlled Media and Information Commission to operate.

POSA also makes it an offence to undermine the authority of, or insult, the President.

A businessman was arrested two years ago under this law for accusing the Mugabe of ruining the economy.

Road Traffic Regulations have been amended to make it an offence to swear or gesture within the view or hearing of the state motorcade with the perceived intention of insulting any person travelling with, or member of, an escort.

The environment is getting tense, and nobody knows whether they've been classified under enemies of the state and are having their communications monitored.

In justifying the new law, the government says it is meant to deal with the global threat of terrorism, and that the law is similar to those in the UK and US, two of Mugabe's vocal critics.

Meanwhile, business continues as usual, but who is listening in...? That's the fear of a Zimbabwean.