Chapter One Foundation has disclosed that the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has denied allegations that the ICT regulator was responsible for shutting down internet services during the recently held general elections on August 12 2021.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Foundation Executive Director Linda Kasonde said the hearing of the main case is coming up on 17 March 2022 and the authority’s position is that they were not responsible for the internet shutdown during the general elections.
The Foundation has taken on the ZICTA management and confirmed that they are proceeding with the judicial review in a matter where the ICT regulator – the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority has been taken on for the disrupted internet services (Social media services) in the country during and after the August 12, 2021 polls.
Kasonde said it was illegal for ZICTA to disrupt or block provision of internet services in the country. There was widespread complaints across the country by social media users after the services were disrupted without notice or reasons being given and the civil matter is currently at the high court.
She noted that the Non-Governmental Organisation has not taken out any criminal charges and the cases it is handling are civil matters in the civil registry, adding that the organisation challenged the decision of the authority to shutdown internet services and will soon find out what the actually happened through the court proceedings.
On 12 August 2021, which was the general elections day, ZICTA has been accused of shutting down internet services and communication in Zambia. The internet services were only restored after Chapter One Foundation got a court order the following day on the 13th of August 2021, ordering ZICTA to resume internet services in Zambia, particularly social media internet access such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The Non-Governmental Organisation served ZICTA with the court order directing it to resume all internet services on 13 August 2021 but they failed to do so as at 07:30 hours the next morning. The non-governmental organization then subsequently instructed its lawyers to commence contempt proceedings against ZICTA for failing to abide by the order.
The internet services mostly for social media were only restored in the country on the 14th of August 2021. This situation raised suspicion that the shut down could have been used to tamper with social dynamics as well as hacking of the electronic electoral results transmission systems.
