Zambian gov't dispels report of using Huawei technology to spy on opponents

LUSAKA -- The Zambian government on Friday dismissed a US news report alleging that it used Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei Technologies to spy on political opponents.

A report by the Wall Street Journal alleged the Chinese telecommunication firm helped governments in Zambia and Uganda with the technology to spy on political opponents.

Uganda's Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya said the report was false and deserved condemnation, adding that the Zambian government was a government of laws and could not, under any circumstance, engage in illegal interception of communications of its citizens.

She noted that the country's telecommunication regulator, the Zambia Information and Communication Technology (ZICTA), was a lawful regulator whose functions do not extend to illegalities as alleged by the reports.

"ZICTA operates under authority of the Zambian constitution, which explicitly guarantees our citizens the right to privacy of the personal conservations, data and information," she said in a release.

The government will continue to safeguard the right to privacy, she said, urging the public to dismiss such reports.

Earlier, in a statement issued on Thursday, Huawei also refuted the US news report alleging that the company aided the Ugandan government to spy on opposition politicians.

Huawei referred to the report titled Huawei Technicians Helped African Governments Spy on Political Opponents by the Wall Street Journal as unfounded, with inaccurate allegations against its business operations in the east African country.