Gen Miyanda Temporarily Goes Offline, Bids Farewell Former vice-president Brig Gen Godfrey Miyanda has temporarily gone offline after he refused to register his mobile numbers as mandated by the snooping Patriotic Front government. Brig Gen Miyanda’s number was suspiciously registered by Airtel who later apologised for what they called an “error” when it was an operation by the intelligence system acting on President Sata’s directive. The mobile company later apologised and withdrew the registration. Brig Gen Miyanda has since not registered his phones and could be among the close to three million subscribers whose phones are deactivated. On the day of the mobile phone registration exercise, the opposition leader heading the Heritage Party issued the following statement STATEMENT: “THE LAST POST” [By Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda – 31st January 2014] Fellow internet partners and the Social Media family, I wish to inform you that the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) have reminded me that by midnight this day they will cut me off from civilisation by arbitrarily deactivating my SIM cards without just cause. I have NOT committed any crime, neither is there a credible record of the prevalence and/or abuse of these communications gadgets to justify any derogation from the said guaranteed rights. By this single act ZICTA is attaching the condition that before I can enjoy my guaranteed freedom of expression I should first apply to the Authority or their agents to be registered. By the same token ZICTA are infringing my right to privacy and other proprietary rights. I contend that these freedoms and liberties cannot be taken away arbitrarily or traded for a few minutes of airtime. My communications to ZICTA and the Mobile Service Providers have remained unanswered. This means that by midnight I shall not be able to communicate or use my purchased implements for such communication. In short until this issue is resolved I shall be off air, including off the internet. This is my Last Post for now. GODFREY MIYANDA, BRIGADIER GENERAL, ONE OF THE CONCERNED CITIZENS [31ST JANUARY 2014] zambiareports/2014/02/01/gen-miyanda-temporarily-goes-offline-bids-farewell/
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 14:02:46 +0000