Still fresh in the minds of many Zimbabweans is how the Zimbabwe National Army staged a ‘coup-not-coup’ and managed to “remove the criminals around the President”. So successful were they at their whole effort that our dear President, who’d be calling the shots for 37 years, opted to call it a day.
Further, Zimbabweans know that when the army gets into an equation the answer is almost always negative and so people heed their call. Take for instance recently how the police made an attempt to clear vendors from the streets. They made their announcements, went onto the ground, but still, vendors held their ground and didn’t budge.
Drum roll.
Enter the army.
An announcement is made and less than 24 hours later streets are deserted and everyone heeds the command.
We’re kinda obedient like then: when it comes to the army!
The men in camouflage have decided to take it a notch higher and have warned perpetrators that their days are numbered: “Cybercrime is one of the greatest threats now facing our country and has enormous implications for our national security, economic prosperity and public safety” said the Commander 2 Infantry Brigade Brigadier-General Fidelis Mhonda speaking at the School of Military Police Graduation ceremony held at Mzilikazi Barrack, in Bulawayo recently.
The military’s stance has not been the first time that government has spoken on “cyber security”, however, they seem to be getting in wrong when they deem social media policing to equate to cyber-security. Our former President (wow, would you look at that!) even came out stating government’s intentions which pointed towards probably controlling what people do online.
The graduating of 163 students from Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Air Force of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) will see them “enhancing investigative skills, administration of justice and maintain discipline to curb cyber crimes countrywide” says a Chronicle report.
Said Brigadier-General Mhonda:
Cybercrime is one of the greatest threats now facing our country and has enormous implications for our national security, economic prosperity and public safety. The courses were primarily meant to impart and synchronise investigation techniques in tandem with current crime trends incorporating cyber and white collar crimes in your various organisations.
I am sure that you are all aware that today’s crime trends and policing methodologies are dynamic and constantly changing thereby necessitating the need for police officers like yourselves to always keep track of such dynamics and adjust your policing techniques in order to remain effective in crime prevention, detecting, investigating and general maintenance of discipline.”
Interestingly to note is that Brigadier-General Fidelis Mhonda is the same person, earlier this year, to have stated that the army will defend Zimbabwe from the gains of the liberation struggle by any means possible.
Could delving into online activities be a way of doing this? Would Zimbabwe’s uniformed forces be able to carry out such a task? If not them then who?
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3 comments
Would be interesting for the Army to give us their definition of ‘cyber-crime’. In short – what is a ‘crime’ in cyber-space? I know that there is crime occurring on the Internet and it proliferates on the planet. We are surely vulnerable – but no less or no more than the rest. The greatest threat to a future Zimbabwe is authoritarian dictatorship. We can’t go back there if we want to seriously develop the nation.
I doubt that this Mhonda fellow even knows what cyber crime is. Was it part of the training curriculum of these recent “graduates” I wonder. There is a great chance of one making a fool of themselves when they delve into domains they hardly know about. Wemay have another case of Y2K (waitukei ko?)
I doubt that this Mhonda fellow even knows what cyber crime is. Was it part of the training curriculum of these recent “graduates” I wonder. There is a great chance of one making a fool of themselves when they delve into domains they hardly know about. We may have another case of Y2K (waitukei ko?)