MACRA is ready to enact cybercrime bill – Malawi Niassa Times

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) says the Cybercrime Bill is almost ready and will be tabled and passed in the upcoming parliamentary session.

Director of Legal Services, Thokozani Chimbe, disclosed this on Thursday at the Grand Palace Hotel in Mzuzu following MACRA’s open days held in Blantyre and Lilongwe.

The purpose of the open house is to showcase MACRA’s responsibilities and to engage directly with various stakeholders on the broad range of issues under MACRA’s jurisdiction.

Chimbe said that under the Communications Act, MACRA is supposed to engage with all stakeholders before making important decisions, hence the establishment of the open house.

Speaking on the growing problem of cybercrime in the country, Chimbe said MACRA has been working on a cybercrime bill which will soon be presented to Parliament.

“Cybercrime is like any other crime. MACRA does not enforce the laws related to it. It remains the police and the state bar. What MACRA is doing is facilitating the creation of adequate laws to criminalize certain crimes because we are advocates of digitalization ICT. We are aware of the dangers that come with it and cybercrime is the biggest threat,” Chimbe said.

The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Media, Information and Communications, Susan Doshi, who was also present at the event, told the Nyasa Times that the open day was very important for information sharing. She added that her committee would do everything to facilitate the introduction and passage of the bill.

“A lot of people have been cheated and there are a lot of scammers. As a committee, we have been interacting with different stakeholders and discussing how to ensure that the problem of cyber crime ends. The bill is scheduled to be introduced in the next session on August 26. We are eagerly waiting for the bill to be passed,” she said.

MACRA was established under Section 3 of the Malawi Communications Act 1998 to regulate the communications industry in the country.

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