Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) says it wants to lobby new President Peter Mutharika to stop Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) from procuring a $1.5 million (about K2.6 billion) integrated information management system.
In an interview on Tuesday, CHRR executive director Michael Kaiyatsa said his group wants to take advantage of the change in political leadership to fight against the procurement of the system, also known as ‘spy machine’ as one of its components is purportedly used to eavesdrop conversations.
He said: “We will engage President Peter Mutharika to stop Macra from procuring the system. If it happens that it was already procured, we will ask that the system should not be used.
“We are still pursuing the matter. This is a very important issue that concerns human rights particularly the right to freedom of expression and other rights.”
Kaiyatsa said Macra has not been transparent on the status of the system.
During the swearing-in of new Cabinet ministers and top public servants in Blantyre yesterday, the President said his administration will not “spy on you [citizens]”.
Macra has come under f ire from human rights campaigners over the purchase of an integrated system to track misinformation and disinformation trends in the country.
Activists have expressed fear that the equipment is meant to put cr it ics under check while others questioned the relevance of the procurement when the country is facing economic challenges.
He said Malawians should CHRR and Youth and Society (YAS) wrote Macra board, Parl iament and Mutharika’s predecessor Lazarus Chakwera to stop the procurement. However, none of the authorities acted.
When Macra announced the intention to award the contract for the equipment, former leader of opposition i n Par l iament George Chaponda, a DPP legislator, also called for the immediate suspension of the system’s procurement.
The ICT Association of Malawi (Ictam), which in February accompanied Macra to Ghana for a due diligence exercise, advised the regulator not to proceed with the procurement.
Ictam cited the country’s economic challenges and perceptions that people have towards the system.
Macra director general Daud Suleman is on record as having said that the system would help fight fake news and misinformation. He said it was not for digital sur vei l lance of private conversations or social media regulation as was being suggested by concerned groups, but that it would help raise confidence in the digital space.
