Uganda parliament will begin debating the controversial Phone Tapping Bill tomorrow (Thursday, 17th June 2010) according to the chairperson of the parliamentary committee on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Nathan Nabeeta.
The draft law, called the Regulation of Interception of Communications Bill 2007, provides for the interception and monitoring of certain communication in the course of their transmission through telecommunication, postal or any related service or system.
Parliament of Uganda
According to the Uganda government, the bill aims at fighting terrorism and improving national security by curbing crime.
Opposition politicians have however, strongly opposed the bill arguing that it will be used by the Uganda government to suppress the opposition. Human rights activists have also opposed the bill arguing that it evades people’s privacy.
Nabeta says people not to get worried of the bill because controversial issues have been removed.
The parliamentary ICT boss says Security Ministers powers issue a warrant to intercept information from a person suspected to be a terrorist or related criminal matters have been transferred to the judge.