Mohloai Mpesi
The government has resumed its push to approve a draconian law to jail journalists found in possession of “classified” information, among other things. The law also seeks to smuggle back criminal defamation into Lesotho’s statutes despite it having been outlawed by the Constitutional Court. It will also enable the state to snoop on the communications of private citizens.
The controversial Computer Crimes and Cyber Security Bill was deliberated upon by the National Assembly’s Prime Minister’s Ministries Portfolio Cluster Committee in a string of closed meetings this week.
Journalists will be subjected to harsh legal measures if certain sections in the Bill are passed as they are. They will face imprisonment of up to 17 years or fines of up to M12million or both if found guilty of being in possession of “classified” information.
Minster of Information, Communications, Science, Technology and Innovation, Nthati Moorosi, tabled the Bill in the National Assembly on the 22nd of May 2024.
This is despite numerous efforts by relevant stakeholders to bring to the minister’s attention their concerns about how the Bill infringes upon fundamental rights. It enables the snooping of private communications of citizens and stifles access to information, among other draconian provisions.
Ms Moorosi had withdrawn the Bill in the National Assembly soon after being appointed into Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s cabinet after the October 2022 elections after an outcry by stakeholders. She had then called for consultations with relevant stakeholders to ensure the proposed law did not infringe on fundamental rights.
This was after her predecessor as former communications minister, Samuel Rapapa, had disregarded pleas to engage stakeholders over the law. Parliament had returned the Bill to the minister and urged him to consult further.
A meeting was subsequently convened on the 8th of June 2023 at ‘Manthabiseng Convention Centre, where the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho Chapter, MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism, Seinoli Legal Centre, Transformation Resource Centre among others, voiced their concerns about the overarching provisions of the Bill.
Ms Moorosi had asked all the complaining parties to make written submissions to her ministry, which they did. They are now unhappy that their input was ignored.
The Bill is seen hampering the media from doing its work. It will make it impossible for journalists to probe and expose corruption because of its sweeping and overarching descriptions of “classified information” obtained from computers.
Section 21 of the Bill (Illegal Access) states that, “a person who intentionally and without lawful excuse accesses the whole or any part of the computer system commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding M5 million or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.” This means journalists can be potentially found liable for state information passed to them by whistle blowers with access to state computers.
The same applies to Section 26 (Data espionage) of the same Bill which reads: “A person who intentionally without lawful excuse or justification or in excess of a lawful excuse or justification obtains, for himself or for another, computer data which are not meant for him or for another, computer data which are not meant for him and which are specifically protected against unauthorised access, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding M12 million or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 17 years or both.”
Some of infamous sections include the provisions of section 24 (2) (data interference), section 38 (1) (unsolicited messages), section 39 (disclosure of details of investigations), section 43 (criminal defamation).
Section 43 is being brought back despite the Constitutional Court having delivered a landmark verdict on the 18th of May 2018, declaring criminal defamation as being inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression as enshrined in the constitution.
The judgment was given in favour of Lesotho Times and Sunday Express publisher, Basildon Peta, who petitioned the court after the then Lesotho government charged him with criminal defamation following the publication of a satirical column, Scrutator, on former Lesotho Defence Force commander, Tlali Kamoli.
Section 43 of the Computer Crimes and Cyber Security Bill now attempts to bring back criminal defamation into the country’s statutes.
It states that, “A person who publishes information or data in a picture, text, symbol or any other form in a computer system knowing that such information or data is false, deceptive, misleading, or inaccurate, and with intent to threaten, abuse, insult, mislead, or deceive the public, or conceals commission of such an offence, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding M500, 000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both”.
MISA National Director, Lekhetho Ntsukunyane, is disappointed that Ms Moorosi is now pushing for the enactment of the draconian law with its unconstitutional provisions still in place.
Should stakeholders be summoned to the portfolio committee, they will narrate how Ms Moorosi had directed them to make written submissions against the Bill and how they were disappointed at her decision not to consider them, he said.
“Just like her predecessors, we are disappointed that Ms Moorosi has surreptitiously sneaked the Bill into parliament while disregarding all our input… We will fight the oppressive law,” Mr Ntsukunyane said.
“We learned that she (Ms Moorosi) was not interested in considering our input in the Bill. She tabled the Bill as it is, there are no changes. This is unfortunate because former minister Samuel Rapapa took the same route and was embarrassed when parliament ordered him to withdraw the Bill for further consultations.
“It’s unfortunate that history is repeating itself. We urge parliament to reject this Bill and send the minister back for consultations….
“We made so many written submissions as was sought by both the former and the current minister… To our surprise, they have all been ignored,” he said.
Efforts to get comment from Ms Moorosi or any of her officials had not succeeded by the time we went to print last night.
Ms Moorosi and her Principal Secretary Kanono Ramashamole are in South Korea on official business.
Deputy Principal Secretary, Lineo Ramabele, said she was not privy to the nitty-gritties of the Bill since she had just joined the ministry.
She referred us to the ministry’s Director Information Communication Technology (ICT), Khiba Masiu, who rubbished Mr Ntsukunyane’s claims saying they had consulted MISA on the Bill. He said he was now surprised as MISA had consent to the now disputed clauses.
“Last year, the Minister (Moorosi) directed us to convene a stakeholder meeting after withdrawing the Bill in the National Assembly.
“There were complains raised against the Bill by MISA but we engaged in discussions until they were satisfied about the Bill. Their main concern was the sentences which they said were hefty. We explained that the fine would be imposed based on one’s financial capacity. Surely not everyone can be ordered to pay a million.
“They even wrote the letter on the 30th of August titled: Expression of MISA-Lesotho gratitude for being granted an opportunity to present its written submission on the Computer Crime and Cyber Security Bill.
“I feel ashamed if they now express dissatisfaction The intention of the Bill is not to oppress any group hence we welcomed concerns,” Mr Masiu said.
