Friday, March 29, 2024

A Call to join the ‘SIM -CARD’ Crusade in Zambia

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Do you understand what is at stake?

confusedman

As the deadline for the abrogation of some citizens’ liberties arrives, I urge the PF Government NOT to disable any of the cell-phone facilities as advertised by ZICTA. I also call upon all citizens who value their inalienable rights to brace themselves in 2014 to participate in a crusade to restore those rights.

Some time ago I canvassed for a possible class action against the registration of sim-cards. Regrettably there may have been a lack of understanding of what a class action is as some assumed that I was personally to sue the State. A class action is one that is initiated or supported by a cross section of aggrieved citizens of on a matter of common interest. Since there was no positive response I concluded that citizens were not concerned about the serious threat to their rights that had arisen through the new sim-card legislation. Litigation is costly and time-consuming.

However recently I became aware of one concerned citizen who has expressed similar concerns to mine. It is his statements that have encouraged me to revive the “sim-card crusade”, even though it appears that there are only the two of us. I believe that there are always the usual ‘silent majority’ who, if made to understand what is at stake, may come out of their comfort zones to hunt a rogue elephant!

Government is taking advantage of ignorant majority

COLD season…Patriotic Front (PF) Malole Member of Parliament Christopher Yaluma donates blankets to elderly women during a tour of his constituency in Mungwi district
Our complaints have fallen on Government’s deaf ears. The Government is using the public media to take advantage of the ‘ignorant majority’, by highlighting the “security and recovery of lost phones” aspect, which several Zambians have latched on and have thus become the Government’s mouth-pieces to further spread the misinformation. Remember that when politicians are looking for votes they come before you, humbly, with cap in hand, even kneeling before you. But after you elect them they reveal their true selfish colours, vultures with an appetite for devouring anything in sight. Before it is too late I urge you to open your eyes and recognise once again their calculated lies and deception and insist that these rulers face you and answer your concerns. The President must be directly challenged to answer truthfully all concerns live on television and radio.

[pullquote]open your eyes and recognise once again their calculated lies and deception and insist that these rulers face you and answer your concerns[/pullquote]

Remember also that there was a rider to the announcements, that those who do not register will have their cell-phones, i-phones, i-pads, modems/dongos and other such essential communication equipment disabled! And last Friday ZICTA revealed that one of the services to be disabled is the use of the SMS as a means to communicate. Clearly this means that they will stop citizens from COMMUNICATING with one another by using the phone and similar gadgets. This is a direct assault on several protected rights, including those in Articles 11 and 20. We shall be contending that there should be no abridgement of or arbitrary derogation from the protected rights in Part Three of the Constitution.

A government that abuses the constitution and other laws should not be trusted

The '5' Police officers deployed at Mano radio station in Kasama to block GBM
The ‘5’ Police officers deployed at Mano radio station in Kasama to ‘not’ block GBM

Fellow Zambians, the circumstances under which the Government has introduced this latest law are worrying, particularly due to the conduct of the Head of State. This record should convince all Zambians, including PF members and sympathisers that the PF regime CANNOT fairly superintend this piece of legislation which bears directly on certain civil liberties.

I wish to remind citizens of a warning I gave in my first analysis of the PF government’s first anniversary in a paper entitled ‘The Performance of the PF Thus far’ dated 15th October 2012 (published by The Post on 18th October 2012 and the Daily Nation on October 2012). Inter alia I wrote: “….Before implementation the proposal must be subjected to public debate in order for the real promoters of this policy to justify their intentions. …………. It is disconcerting that at this same time the President has declared that there is nothing wrong with the Public Order Act – when combined with the sim-card scheme this is an ominous declaration! ……If the PF does not rescind or suspend the sim-card exercise I would personally advocate for a class action in court so that many citizens join as litigants to stop this unjustified erosion of our constitutional rights. This scheme must not be implemented; but if it has to be, then certainly not under the presidency of President Sata!” End of quote.

That was over one year ago. As I write this paper there is direct evidence of continued abuse of our Constitution and other laws. Latest examples include the reported deployment of 400 police officers around the Chitimukulu Palace, 50 police officers to prevent Mr Geoffrey Mwamba to be interviewed on Radio Mano. Just today (30th December) the Technical Committee on the Constitution has succumbed to PF pressure NOT to release copies of their report to the public but to Government only, in breach of President Sata’s own Terms of Reference.

Additionally, the President is on record having rejected the Attorney General’ advice, his Chief Legal Advisor, NOT to transport non-gazetted persons as chiefs from Muchinga to Lusaka, and declaring “I will show you that I am more powerful than the Attorney General”!

I thus urge all concerned citizens in 2014 to speak out against this arbitrary law which has relegated some of our liberties to the dust bin. This is a non-partisan appeal. Let us persuade the Government to suspend the implementation of this programme until concerns raised are addressed and certain safeguards have been put in place.

By Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda
A concerned citizen
30th December 2013]

To: GRZ
ZICTA
Political parties
MPs
Media
LAZ
Civil Society (including faith-based organisations )
Workers’ Organisations
Student Organisations
The General Public


85 COMMENTS

    • i wud rather have no phone than register my details with pigs in an animal farm

      A government that abuses the constitution and other laws should not be trusted

    • I am not surprised at the level of ignorance regarding this exercise. This matter of SIM card registration goes beyond the PF government. It is a direct extension of the US fight against terrorism world wide. It is no coincidence that ZICTA head office is located at the former premises of the US embassy in Zambia.

      Wake and and realize that there is nothing that Americans will not do to stop terrorism. Just get in line and register the SIM and get on with your life if you have one. And if you are innocent, well you have nothing to fear about disclosing your details because if they want to get you, they will definitely get you. Ask Osama Bin Laden for details.

    • I have not registered my phone, as the basis for doing so has not been explained and my trust that this information is well handled is at its lowest.

  1. The PF government cannot be entrusted with the personal details of citizens. We run a risk that opposition leader’s phones will be hacked, people with deferring views will be investigated and personal misgivings will made public.
    Sata truly is the worst thing that happened to Zambia. Sata is intolerant and has taken Zambia back to the KK medieval times. Four years since this clown of a Bemba imperialist took office and we have seen food prices increases, exchange rates go boom, fuel prices have gone bust, regulations have increased to an extent that doing business is not possible without one checking their back!

  2. This government can not be trusted, i feel that their is an ill motive behind simcard registration.
    I know someone will say than other countries do it…… well other countries also allow citizens to peacefully gather and demonstrate, other countries allow opposition parties to hold meetings without permits and with no police interference and intimidation, other countries have come up with people driven constitutions . So if we are going to do things because other countries are doing them, lets do everything and not coping what can be used to victimise citizen.

    • Bootyful,

      You knew what you were doing. It is just that the results are at variance with the results. There is nothing new. Such is life. Take the lesson seriously and prepare to do better next time.

  3. Issues like this we never receive any attention as we are too docile and too ignorant. ..Zambians are not like Kenyans who are more informed and proactive. Even this selfsame article by the General will receive less comments as we (including bloggers) are allergic to critical thinking but prefer discussing personalities and events. ….watch this space.

    • The reason is simple. All bloggers who leave the shores of Zambia register SIM cards everywhere they go. Why should Zambia be an Island.

    • @albert chinyama,
      it just shows that you have not even be to joburg where you can eadily go by bus.you would have know ati ifyabupuba takwaba

    • I have been to a number of countries and never registered my details when buying a SIM card. Does mean I go to the wrong countries. I have been told that in RSA they do it but when I used to go there the registering was not happening. I was in the States recently and you don’t register. I never registered in Europe.

  4. Bushe buwelewele nshi that have engulfed Zambia kanshi. Which Govt in this world has no SIM registration. l used to have great respect for the General, alas, its waning fast. Please General leave cheap talk to Hakainde and civil society leaders who fist on ignorance of the masses. Let the General visit neibouring countries and see for himself. I will be willing to donate an air ticket to him if he has financial issues.

    • Iwe what can you tell us. I was in China last week, that nonsense is not there ! You just buy the SIM and take off ! The Govt uses other passive means of tying ones name to a SIM e.g thru hotel booking etc and not threatening to terminate. The removal of SMS service will greatly disadvantage the poor !

    • only autocratic and corruppt regimes do so but even then over a period of time the whole exercise becomes flawed e.g tanzania. today in tanzania you just go to tunduma you can get even 10 sim cards without any registation

  5. ..I have always been and I’m still totally in agreement and support of the sentiments raised by the author….that makes three of us…what is even more exciting is that there are millions of ‘us’ out there ready to jump on the bandwagon….come 1st Feb 2014

  6. I bet busy bodies condemning and complaining about sim card registration don’t have qualms registering them when overseas. Hello! ! the world has changed and we need to keep in step with the rest of them civilised world. For example with all the terrorism taking root in various parts of Africa we cannot afford to continue issuing sims anyhow with eyes closed. People like Miyanda don’t need to be taken seriously, he doesn’t have constituency, he never sat down with experts to consider pro and cons on this issue before writing this article. If you’re a law abiding citizen, what is there to be worried about?

    • So how is registering a SIM going to fight terrorism? Use your head for once countries like UK that are at a far greater risk of being attacked dont register pay-as-you-go cards…why? Its pointless moreover terrorists are more sophisticated that you think.

      Wake up! !

    • well said, thank you for your comment. our people in zambia think everything pf dose is political. i stay in south africa and the sim-card registration was introduced in 2009.

    • Am not surprised that there are people who don’t know that even terrorist rely on communication, too many educated illiterates in Zambia.

    • Jay Jay
      Who said pay as you go sim cards in UK are exempt from registration? Don’t just make things up in your mind or support failed lazy politicians blindly. Honestly, am finding it difficult to work out how my old mum’s civil liberties will be curtailed by her registering her sim card. Oh by the way she also has a land line she’s had it for more than 20 years and it’s registered in her name.

    • So you honestly think a terrorist would be detered from attacking Zambia because of SIM registration? You honestly think a terrorists just wakes up in the morning and says today I will phone my friend so we bomb parliament?

    • The General has outlined everything articulately for you and still you are not able to see the connection and how this exercise will infringe on your civil liberties.

    • At least you would have given the security agencies ONE of the tools of collecting evidence to build up a case puzzle, don’t you think so Jay Jay? I like watching watching FBI files and i slightly appreciate the amount and kind of information that can be deduced from that piece of plastic and i suppose it would be even easier if it can be traced to someone.

    • @msana wanzili Please it’s New Years day ..start the year with something intelligent to say .Go watch TV and leave this thread for those who are concerned about the future of Zambia.

    • I hope many riff ruffs will heed the Generals cry and not register so that we have fewer empty heads on the net kaili they use phone to blog.
      Thanks Mary, am off

    • JJ you are very right – Pay as you go cards are never registered, only contract Sims are registered – ZEdians wake up – DO NOT REGISTER!! This dictator wants to listen to all your conversations, BUT WILL NOT GIVE YOU YOUR CONSTITUTION, he thinks we are all s.t.upid!!

    • Msana do you know why you are able to watch those FBI files??? Simply becoz those Techniques are now OUTDATED, & they can afford to show you, THEY WILL NEVER SHOW YOU CURRENT TECHNIQUES!!

    • Zambia is not a country at great risk from any terror… The greatest risk is from the Government towards its people at this stage. Freedom of expression is not Protected at this stage in our country, so people should be skeptical about registering their Sim, and of potentially giving away your private details willy nilly, how will the government handle and take responsibility for people’s private details. In the UK you don’t have to register your SIM, Its a very unusual request.

    • ..??????????……no further question your honour….but I strongly suggest that you consider referring all of us including mmk to chainama for a serious scrutiny of our medulla oblongata. I rest my case

  7. Mr. Miyanda, go to your neighbor country Zimbabwe all the Sim cards are registered. Come to Kenya, all the Sim cards are registered. Go to many other countries, Sim cards are registered. In today’s world with every day threat of terrorism, for security sake registration of Sim cards is becoming a necessity. Actually, if you are a true patriot of the country you should be the first one to support that. You mean us hear in Kenya are irrational and don’t know our rights? That is the problem of Zambian politics we tend not to think beyond our box. Be objective.

    • PO
      With all due respect to the General, he’s not been up and about lately and i now strongly reckon he’s somehow stuck in Chiluba’s era. We ain’t hearing too much noise from Mumba and HH for example on this issue because their foreign sims are registered in those countries.

    • The Panga Terrorists have not been relying on SIM cards – so what crap are police going to solve?? Infact the Panga chaps have been committing crime right under the police noses!!

  8. Before you shower insults on some of us please read the General’s article and then make your own conclusion. Just because the article is well written doesn’t mean it’s well researched, remember this is a guy with too much time on his hands who can afford to sit in his study and come up with all sorts of stuff. Government doesn’t need to consult every Jim and Jack(paying them sitting allowances) every time they are about to come with something. And whats the connection between sim registration and the police congregated in Kasama.
    Don’t take whatever guys like this one say as gospel truth. In fact this exercise was started by the previous government after several consultations.
    He’s past his ‘sale by’ date.

    • Well if a govt is going to curtail my freedoms, THEY NEED TO TALK TO ME ABOUT IT!!
      Iwe Msana, ala ifya kwikatila ku muchila, nififine – ba ka kunyela pa mutwe!!

  9. You are behaving like sata who sued ZNBC over TV levy. Globally simcards are being regersterd . Just go to your south africa before go far. What privacy are you talking about when you the the same wants freedom of imformation bill.

  10. Ci JAY JAY whatever,you should not compare Kenya with Zambia.We are a civilised people .We are UK.Go to hell with AL SHABABB.

  11. Ever heard of the Bilderberg Group?
    There is something beyond Zambia’s control when it comes to SIM card registration.
    Interestingly, it’s all done in the name of terror.
    It’s all about world power, control and domination!
    Just locking a drone onto your SIM and you are sorted out!
    It will be a great weapon in the hands of despots!
    Unfortunately it does not matter whether we protest or not.
    It is coming and PF has no choice with all the debts they have tied around our necks!
    it all started with the David Rockerfellers and the few from the 5% who control the wealth of the entire earth! Open your eyes! Read!

    • Two words for you mate – scare monger. Where did you get all that Bilderberg Group nonsense. We all know its a very secretive organisation so how did you get that information? kachepa

  12. In Africa everything is bad what’s wrong with registering you communicating devise . That the general does not now is that some people just buy a sim and a cheap phone and stat abusing others or comit crimes just like that and you can’t catch them they will just throw the sim and the phone believe me this happens in Africa the general there are many things you can educate people on let’s not f00l people how can people be communicating like that in a normal country don’t be deceived by people who fear anything

  13. In the near future everyone on the planet will have to register a sim-card or computer otherwise one will not be able ” to buy and to sell” in the coming cashless world. That world will depend on the internet to transact and do almost everything,even schooling.

    Upon registering you receive a “mark of the beast or number.” This will enable the Beast responsible for this “knowledge” have total control of every aspect of all peoples lives.

    Thanks for the internet the prophesy,written over 2000 years ago, at Rev 13 : 11-18 is being fulfilled before our very own eyes !

    • Prophecy can be overturned…So what if the prophecy which you mention, may have been a warning to take caution, especially when the prophecy or warning is about doom. So we can overturn things or doom that was prophesied if we take heed of the warning!

  14. The registration in Zambia is so simple. Just fill in a form n avail a copy of a reg card. ln some African countries, they capture your portrait and finger prints.

    • @Albert Chinyama, can you please explain and clarify how the registering of sim cards will help Govt successfully combat terrorism and abate phone thefts?

    • And also how is the Government going to fund all the administrative costs around processing all the registrations, and how much will it cost? Don’t we have other priorities…I wonder?

  15. ## msana wanzili

    Please spare us !

    I can walk into a any UK Mobiile Phone shop and buy as many SIM Cards as I can for my friends or relatives, And I don’t have to REGISTER anything, I do this all the time when family comes to visit me

    You can buy a SIM Card for £10.00, which normally comes with £10,00 worth of talk time.

    You can Top Up by either registering on the internet or just walk into a Mobile Phone Dealer and pay cash on the counter onto your Top-UP-Card.

    Tourist do this every second of any given day. Please stop this baloney

    • That’s strange…In Canada ,all Mobile Phone vendors will request for and enter your personal information when you buy a SIM card.I guess that is the equivalent of registration.You will never find a SIM Card vendor without a PC to capture that information.
      I would expect the UK to have a similar standard on SIM card sales.Besides a SIM Card and Top-Up Card are two very different things.

    • @ Independent how many times are we going to say this to. ..WE DON’T REGISTER PAY-AS-GO Sim cards…why would you expect the selfsame standard when it has been clearly been pointed out to you by us the people on the ground.

    • Ala Msana mu guy uwa ikala mu bwendo mu deep shatini – i.e. deep in the forest!!
      Ena omfwa fye ati ku Jo’berg ifi nefi, ta nyanta ko no ku nyantako!!

    • Ala ba “independent” mu leke ko tu porridge – bongo bongo yala kwata fye fi fube fube – again for the umpteenth time , P-as-Y -go SIMS are not registered in the UK!!

  16. Gen Miyanda is really trying to revive his political career which is virtually extinct.The God-like status he so wishes for will never come to him.
    Just because a few people say to you “You are a wise man” does not mean that everbody thinks so.Like one Zambian song says”Umuchinshi taba pela Ichipuba”.Respect is earned and not demanded.
    The presidential elections you have participated in are a clear indicator of your political situation.It’s time to step aside.

    • Debate the topic not the author if you’re incapable of doing that and you want to debate personalities go to the LT articles about GBM.

    • @independent, can you please explain and clarify how the Govt will successfully combat terrorism and abate phone thefts using sim card numbers?

  17. this coup plotter bafoon never ceases to amaze me. Why not keep quiet if the coup you involved yoself never succeeded. Explain to the zambians how the devil used you to do filth things for him than talk about sim cards. What a u afraid of? you planning another coup.

    • this george bush is a fool and his political fwaka PF , I feel irritated with blind followers of PF programmes, this one of compelling citizens to register SIM cards does not make any sense at all apart from giving this govt information to do evil things against their percieved enemies ,

  18. I have been living in UK for over 6 years and by choice I have been using PAY-AS-YOU-GO mobile phone ever since. The question of registering my sim card has never arisen at all, and it is not even debated upon in UK Parliament which is Televised. A friend of mine comes to UK for short visits/work from Zambia and he has bought simcards a few times to use whilst in UK. There has never been any issues about registering the sim card at all. Nothing.
    On the other hand, my wife has her mobile phone on contract by choice, and her service providers have her details.
    Therefore, it is simply NOT TRUE that the Zambian Govt are combating terrorism or phone thefts thru this sim cards registration exercise. That is pure fiction. Sata simply wants to induce fear, control and manipulate people.

  19. It is time we started putting our hands in our pockets to provide practical support. Especially those of us who are in the diaspora. Something like a class action requires money. A website where we can donate money might be useful. Political parties would also do well to collect donations via websites.

  20. Brigadier, Yiu are rong on this one. Sim cards are registered for many security reasons worldwide.
    do not misguide the pipos

  21. I am in the diaspora, in one of the world’s leading economy. Let me give free advice to ZICTA on the best way others have done it. They only tie sim registration to a post-paid phone contract so that they can debit your account directly to avoid defaults on phone purchase instalments and the phone calling bill you incur during the months. Its laughable that in Zambia, the phone and sim card is yours, you do not owe any phone company any money (because you are on pre-paid), yet someone is crying for registration for a sim that belongs to you! You can only tie someone to something when the person has NKONGOLE!

  22. I am trying to understand the line of reasoning of General Godfrey Miyanda and all those supporting him. The Generals seems concerned about the danger of government have access to his personal details and using this information to curtail his basic human rights. But the personal details he is worrying about are already in the possession of the government. For sim card registration, the information that we all gave includes the name, details on the national registration card, and the physical address. To the best of my knowledge, much of the same information RTSA, ZRA, the Passport Office, and the Department of National Registration already have.

  23. If the General has a car, a passport, NRC, and pays tax, then the government already has a lot of data on him even if he doesn’t register his sim card. ZICTA is also getting the same personal details in the implementation of the national address system which involves numbering houses and naming streets in all Zambian districts to facilitate the location of people and houses in case of emergencies and for faster parcel post deliveries. Why doesn’t the General extend his campaign to these organizations as well so that they can stop getting personal details of the citizenry? But even in the absence of sim card registration, doesn’t the General know that it is possible to subpoena transcripts by court order from any of the mobile phone providers?

  24. I am in support of SIM- card registration . Only those who are criminals and like doing things in secrete will oppose SIM-Card registration. South Africa they do it, Ethiopia they do it, Kenya they do it, why should it be wrong for Zambia?

    Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.

  25. It appears to me like there is a hidden agenda over this SIM card registration. why can’t Zambians wake up to see the reality. Miyanda is right

  26. As I understand NRC details are not computerised by Dept. of Home Affairs.
    Does anyone actually validate the NRC card details one provides to the phone company? My guess is no! This is a major loophole because anyone can claim to be anybody they like.
    If I ‘photoshoped’ an NRC identity by putting a fake name and birth details on it and used it to register the SIM I would escape the whole process. This loophole applies in most countries that register SIMs especially if your primary ID is a foreign passport.
    So what if they want a certified copy of your NRC, after all the certification process itself is so rampantly corrupt.
    ZICTA are a laughable lot, common sense has eluded them on this one!

  27. SIM registration is not the idea of PF. A more sinister agenda will be revealed that will shake the very foundation of Human being. There are evil beings who are behind this registration and believe you me, it is not PF. For instance remember how banking was done a few decades ago. Now you can do banking by a smaller SIM card using your phone. Right now they are developing chips which will be compatible with the human body. The chip or electronic identity will be marked on you for financial transaction. That is why they want every nation to undergo digital migration. To control humans and its not PF. It is beyond PF. Satellites are all over the skies to scan the earth and monitor every soul. Without the chip, no land, no phone, no house etc. The SIM registration is just the beginning.

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