ZIMBABWE
Commentary on the Cybersecurity and Cybercrimes Bill
Social media threat to cybersecurity?
In his address during the opening of the 5th Session of the 8th Parliament,
President Robert Mugabe expressed hope that Parliament would debate and
finalise the three cyber law related Bills Zimbabwe has been working on since
mid-2013.
Since then, developments in Zimbabwe’s cyber law and policy landscape
have been fast-paced with the recent one being the creation of the Ministry of
Cybersecurity, Mitigation and Threat Detection. At face value, such actions
give the impression that the Zimbabwean government is taking serious
measures to combat any potential cyber threats.
However, this article seeks to show that current efforts by the government to
secure cyberspace really have nothing to do with promoting cybersecurity, but
are more focused on protecting the interests of the State.
Government’s intentions
Government efforts in combatting online criminal activity have resulted in the
passing of the National ICT Policy, the National Cyber Security Policy (both in
2016), and the updating of the draft Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill, which
is currently in its third draft. On paper, these policies are aimed at fighting
cybercrime in Zimbabwe in a manner which purports to promote the
fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.

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