Maravi

Intelligence services

Intelligence services
Written by Editor

We believe in intelligence services and we will do everything possible to ensure that our country has a good intelligence service.We know that many people in this country don’t like the intelligence and it is a discredited profession in the eyes of most of our people. And this being the case, there is need to redeem this very important profession and put it where it is supposed to be.

What has led to this situation is the political abuse that our intelligence service has been subjected to since independence. Every successive regime in this country has in one way or another abused the intelligence service, albeit to differing degrees.

We share the sentiments expressed by Jack Mwiimbu in Parliament the other day when he advised those in government to stop abusing the Zambia Security Intelligence Services. Mwiimbu told Parliament: “The intelligence system was not made to be abused by those in power. The intelligence service is for all Zambians and is supposed to serve all political parties.”

Those in government, those in the ruling MMD need to appreciate that whilst those in the intelligence services serve within the context of our government’s priorities, they have an integral duty to protect all the citizens of this country. They cannot be a law unto themselves and must ensure that their powers are directed at genuine threats rather than at political opponents that can be scapegoated as a destruction from dealing with the real problems. They should not bow to pressure-cook their intelligence product to meet some pre-conceived recipe.

This leads to flawed intelligence. No one is well served when intelligence is corrupted. They must therefore acquire the professional expertise to offer independent judgment and the moral courage to say no to any abuse. Much like Shakespeare’s court jester who was accorded special status to speak uncomfortable truths to power, intelligence officers must be able to tell those in power, the policy makers what they ought to know and not simply what they want to hear.

In this way, we will ensure that our intelligence officers and agencies are viewed as a credible and noble force for good. This is especially necessary in today’s Zambia where the security goal that our intelligence officers must pursue is one of peace, stability, development, respect for human rights and good governance.

There is need for us to build a professional, effective and accountable intelligence that Zambia requires to meet the complex security threats of this century. The Zambian taxpayers need value for money from our intelligence agencies. And to achieve this, very high levels of professionalism are required from all our intelligence officers and agencies.

No one should cheat himself that we don’t need an intelligence service in today’s world. We need it. And it has always been needed. And in saying this, we are looking back to the genesis of intelligence, where the Old Testament has God instructing Moses to dispatch spies into the land of Canaan. As societies evolved from clans into kingdoms, empires and nations; growing more complex and interdependent in their interactions with each other, so too did the nature of the threats confronting them.

This meant that the need to gather intelligence grew, where states increasingly relied upon the vigilance of their lookouts to safeguard their interests, which today must include the security and wellbeing of their people.

These developments ultimately gave rise to the establishment of the specialised intelligence structures that are a feature of modern governance. And in the unpredictable global world that we today inhabit, the necessity for intelligence has intensified; now more than ever it is absolutely vital to be reliably informed, for as the saying goes “Knowledge is power”.

Imagine if our intelligence services were working very hard on the mines to provide the policy makers with valuable information needed to make intelligent economic decisions, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

We therefore cannot afford to discard or neglect this age-old craft. Yet its utility is expressly dependent on the professionalism of our intelligence officers and the extent to which they are able to recognise and deal resolutely with deficiencies, correct weaknesses and root out any abuse.

In a country like ours, striving to achieve a good level of multiparty democracy, intelligence services should be subject to a range of controls and oversight to facilitate their accountability and professionalism; keeping a close check on the legality, propriety and effectiveness of their activities. Of course, this in itself will not guarantee that no errors or mistakes are made.

But where mistakes happen despite the existence of these measures, they must counteract the potential for a recurrence and avoid flawed products, mindful of the words of an intelligence commentator: “That the medicine can, if not administered under the very strictest and widest supervision, have the effects which are as damaging as the disease.”

It is for this reason that we need to enhance an awareness of the necessity for legality and propriety at all times. Our intelligence officers should be fully made to realise that they don’t stand above the law; are accountable to all the Zambian people in their diversities and complexities; accept the principle of political non-partisanship; all their loyalty to the Constitution, our people and the state; and appreciate that they must maintain high standards of performance.

Again, central to the attainment of all this are the responsibilities of our intelligence officers within their structures towards our people and to ensuring that at all times the law is strictly observed.

But this must not be interpreted as tying the hands of our intelligence officers and their agencies but rather ensuring greater quality, accuracy and professionalism in their work and a deeper sense of personal confidence in their decision making and actions.

We must stress again that the purpose of all that we are saying is to improve the management and mission of our intelligence services, and not to inhibit them, through the collection of quality information; its sophisticated analysis and its timely dissemination.

The challenges for our intelligence officers are even bigger now in the era of globalisation and organised crime. Our intelligence service has suffered serious image-degradation since the exposure of the corruption that was perpetrated by Frederick Chiluba and Xavier Chungu using the intelligence Zamtrop account.

What this has taught us is that whilst the development of laws and external oversight mechanisms are critical, our intelligence officers need to also look beyond them to internally regulate their own actual professional and ethical conduct. This is an enduring challenge that should apply to every intelligence officer, whatever their rank, in this country.

We should therefore purposefully identify and overcome whatever limitations our intelligence officers and agencies are facing. And as we try to improve their performance in all ways, we should seek to meet the statement of the 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes who said: “Reliable intelligence agents are to those that exercise the responsibility of governance like rays of light to the human soul.”

It is in this light that we call for increased professionalism in our intelligence agencies. And we also seek increased oversight from Parliament and other institutions of the state like the Auditor General, of the activities of our intelligence services. This is a very important institution and profession that should not be left to the whims and expediencies of those in State House or in government in general.

Let’s learn a lesson from how Chiluba abused the intelligence to steal millions and millions of dollars from public coffers. Let’s not forget how our intelligence officers and agencies have been abused to falsify the will of the people during election time. This must end. It is not good for our intelligence officers and agencies. It is also not good for our country and for all our people, whatever their political affiliations. It must be stopped.

Labels: ZSIS

posted by MrK @ 7:46 AM