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{
    "id": 324151,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/324151/?format=api",
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    "content": "Provincial Administration and Internal Security, for having taken the initiative to initiate that consultation. For the last two days, we have discussed with the Minister and a few other people and at least, have come up with some consensus in terms of agreeing what needs to be done in this Bill. This country has been subjected to serious crimes of terrorism in the recent past and, in fact, since 1998. It is, therefore, necessary that we enact a legal framework to deal with these matters. In the same vein, our citizens must also be protected from excesses by our security forces and agents. Our people must have confidence in our Government and whatever law is enacted must be seen to be in the good of the people and not something to be used against them. Our concern was that abuses can be subjected to such a law. We know terrorism is a very serious matter. Therefore, any law that we enact must be consistent with the Constitution, so that there is no abuse. In this regard then, we have to balance between privacy, human rights and the combat of terrorism. This is a very delicate balance. The Bill, in its amended form, can balance that. You will recall that we, as a nation, decided to enact a new Constitution to part ways with the old ways of doing things and give sovereignty to our people, so that we can respect the rights of the people. That way, the rights of our people should be protected. While we protect our people against terrorism, we must also ensure that we respect their rights, so that they are not violated. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, because of the nature of terrorism, this Bill seeks to lower the threshold the State needs to satisfy in terms of the confession of terrorist suspects. That is why it is important that in protecting those rights, we need to be very careful that we do not go overboard. That is the abuse that we are talking about. I am glad that the Minister has discussed with us and I think there will be some amendments coming. With those amendments, we fully support the Bill. The Bill also comes at a time when we expect the Police Service to be reformed, so that the people who are entrusted with the implementation of the provisions of this Bill are conscious of the provisions of our Constitution and do not do things the old way. As mentioned by the Chairman earlier, maybe that is why this Bill did not go through from 2003. That is why people were rejecting it. But in the environment of the new Constitution, we expect the Bill to go a long way in satisfying the security needs of our people. Once again, I congratulate the Minister. We have done a lot on this Bill for the last few days. With those consultations and the amendments that will be proposed, we should have a new law to deal with this serious crime which affects our people. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}