While Ugandans celebrate the nation getting a contract to produce smart phones in the country and to create jobs, you might want to know what we wrote in the past about Dictator Museveni's surveillance.
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Change of Guards Blog
April 22, 2017
MUSEVENI’S ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE SCHEME TO IMPOSE OWN SMART PHONES ON UGANDANS
Around late 2015 BBC's Newsnight broadcast a report by Privacy International on Museveni's grand private communications surveillance in Uganda. It detail the sale of intrusion malware FinFisher by Gamma International GmbH (‘Gamma’) to the Ugandan military. FinFisher was the ‘backbone’ of a secret operation to spy on leading opposition members, activists, elected officials, intelligence insiders and journalists.
Prompted by the opposition led mass protests of late 2011, on 13 January 2012, President Museveni launched Operation Fungua Macho ('open your eyes' in Swahili). Covert FinFisher 'access points' were installed within Parliament and key government institutions. Actual and suspected government opponents were targeted in their homes. Hotels in Kampala, Entebbe and Masaka were also compromised to facilitate infection of targets' devices. The CMI solicited state funds to 'bribe' collaborators to facilitate infections and intended to use collected information to 'blackmail' targets, according to the documents (see attached).
Meanwhile, the regime went ahead to make efforts to procure a communications monitoring centre, five years after the passing of the
Regulation of Interception of Communications Act. In 2013, the inter-agency Joint Security/ICT Technical committee invited bids for the project from seven technology companies based in China, Israel, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. Some familiar names were on the shortlist to supply the monitoring centre — Huawei and ZTE, NICE and Verint — and some less well known contenders — Macro System and RESI Group. And, of course, Gamma Group International.
In the meantime, the regime sought to extend its electronic surveillance program to mobile phones and its own UTL was identified as the easiest means. In June 2017, the Minister of Investment decreed that;
"Once the managerial problems in Uganda Telecom (UTL) have been “fixed, it is going to be compulsory for Ugandans to own a Utl line just as it is for you to have a national ID. You must have a Ugandan line. That is the spirit of patriotism."
The plan was to compel every Ugandan to use a UTL Sim Card that would make it easy to be subjected to electronic surveillance. Due to public uproar, the scheme was abandoned.
In July 2017 a plan to establish a cell phone factory in Uganda was hatched when a government delegation that visited China asked Chinese authorities to give Uganda a comprehensive cyber-security solution, including technical capacity to monitor and curb increasing social media misuse. Consequently, in January 2018 this year, President Museveni directed that UTL to expeditiously conclude talks with a state-owned Chinese IT company- China National Electronics Import & Export Corp (CEIEC), which had been selected to establish a smart phone factory in Uganda.
In February 2018 the Museveni regime endorsed a different Chinese firm, Xinlan Group in establishing a smartphones factory in Uganda. Two months later, in April 2018 UTL and Xinlan, a Chinese manufacturer entered into a partnership to manufacture mobile handset phones in Uganda. The partnership, according to a State House statement, was also to explore avenues into research, development in communication on top of manufacturing customized mobile phones. Xinlan Company manufactures mobile phone sets such as those branded Huawei and Samsung.
The venture was disclosed during a meeting between Museveni and UTL at State House, Entebbe where a Cellular Mobile Phone handset that was to be locally manufactured was exhibited.
It is only the three Chinese companies (including SIM which had even been given land in the Namanve Industrial Park to build a factory) that had all along been floated for partnering with UTL to build the so-called mobile phone factory or assembling plant; whatever the case. In a turn of events and out of the blue, his army has now come out announce that it was partnering with a different U.S company, CTI Africa to produce smart phones. Museveni tasked his top aide, spy, confidant and village mate, Gen. James Mugira to take charge of the project. Though its not very clear, it looks like the now Nigerian owned UTL's partnership with Chinese companies has been abandoned. To ensure a total grip on its electronic surveillance scheme, it now the army that is partnering with CTI Africa. The Minister of Investment was simply draggesd in to create a civilian image. Allaying the fear of how government will protect the locally assembled phones against similar imported sets, the Minister made it clear that;
“Through the Buy Uganda, Build Uganda policy, we shall put tax barriers for importation of products similar to those produced locally."
An insight into Museveni's electronic surveillance program is reproduced below;
Change of Guards
April 22, 2017
MUSEVENI'S POLICE STATE SCHEME GRADUATES TO SURVEILLANCE STATE
A Police State is a core characteristic of a totalitarian form of governance. The regime exercises power arbitrarily through the power of the Police Force as opposed to a state regulated by civil administration.
Citizens of a police state experience restrictions on their rights and freedoms which is subject to Police monitoring or enforcement. A political Police unit then acts for the repressive regime to control the political, economic and social life of the people in place of regular operations of civil administrative and judicial organs of the government as set about by the constitution and other legal procedures.
Citizens of a Police State face grave restrictions on their mobility and freedom to express or communicate political or other views. Such a Police State is fundamentally authoritarian and often a dictatorship which suppress citizens’ rights under the guise of state security and the leaders are seen as gods who exercise absolute powers. Political opposition to the regime is treated as a crime against the state.
As public dissent is forbiden, it inevitably becomes secret, which in turn invites the repressive Police State’s surveillance program. The regime keeps watch on what its oppressed citizens say and communicate, and keeps track of their associates and movements. Repressive state surveillance can be either overt and covert or both but can also be targeted or massive. It can be carried out by a civilian network like our village Local Councils (L.C) and Crime Preventers. It can be by the regime’s agencies – the Police and secret services, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) or by commercial corporations like mobile phone companies. Both UCC and NIRA are an extension of Museveni’s regime intelligence network.
Target surveillance is carried out on specific individual persons, places and objects and organisations. It can be carried out covertly (secretly) or overtly (publicly) using methods like interception of communication, collection of communication traffic data from phone companies, visual surveillance devices and devices that sense movements of objects and persons. Electronic tagging, targeted computers, internet, mobile phone, social media, residences, hotels, conference halls, cars, etc. The other day Dr. Besigye discovered a surveillance device that the regime had fixed in his car.
Mass surveillance also known as “passive” or “undirected” gathers information and images for possible future use. Use of CCTV and databases like it is the case in the ongoing scheme to fix CCTV cameras in all urban centres and the re-registration of SIM cards and the national ID is a classic example of mass surveillance. In civilised countries, it helps fight terrorism, crime, prevents social unrest, protects national security, fights child pornography, etc. though it limits civil and political rights while at the same time it limits privacy. Under Museveni’s Uganda, it is designed to monitor and suppress political dissent.
Ill-motivated mass surveillance scheme leads to a situation of an Electronic Police State whereby the repressive regime uses electronic technologies to record, collect, store, organize, analyse, search,
and distribute information about its citizens. Uganda is heading for massive government surveillance of landline and cellular telephone traffic, mail, Emails, Web surfing, internet searches, radio and other forms of electronic communication as well as widespread use of video surveillance. The Museveni regime has upgraded its electronic surveillance technology – thus it is trying to match it with the citizens’ database through rigorous re-registration exercise of SIM cards and National ID.
The repressive regime will deliberately make its citizens know that it runs a mass surveillance program so that it instills fear and suspicion and the consequential self censorship while its powerful coercive Police Force takes center stage. The Museveni regime already has in place the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the development of a Police State/Surveillance State/Electronic Police State. The Ministry of Information Communication techinologies (ICT), The Interception of Communications Act, The National Identification and Registration Agency (NIRA), The Public Order Management Act (POMA), The Uganda Communication
Commission (UCC), Registration of Persons Act, a rubber stamp parliament, client phone companies, cadre Judges, regime Police, regime secret services, regime militias and others are the pillars of the program.
Through covert hacking, the regime journalists, he will be able to collect, remove and add digital evidence to/from private devices of citizens without knowledge of owners. With such data, the regime will disrupt, misdirect, discredit, foster internal dispute in the opposition or smear dirt on their activities especially the leaders.
INFORMATION IS POWER
==================
Therefore, if the deal is real and doesn't turn out to be another fake investment, the future of private mobile telecommunications in Uganda is bleak. You will recall that recently Museveni's security agents forcefully gained entry into the servers of MTN. He will compel Ugandans to use his army manufactured and factory bugged smart phones so that all their private communications can be monitored. He has also launched a countrywide CCTV camera coverage scheme.
INFORMATION IS POWER AND THE PROBLEM OF UGANDA IS....
April 22, 2017
MUSEVENI’S ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE SCHEME TO IMPOSE OWN SMART PHONES ON UGANDANS
Around late 2015 BBC's Newsnight broadcast a report by Privacy International on Museveni's grand private communications surveillance in Uganda. It detail the sale of intrusion malware FinFisher by Gamma International GmbH (‘Gamma’) to the Ugandan military. FinFisher was the ‘backbone’ of a secret operation to spy on leading opposition members, activists, elected officials, intelligence insiders and journalists.
Prompted by the opposition led mass protests of late 2011, on 13 January 2012, President Museveni launched Operation Fungua Macho ('open your eyes' in Swahili). Covert FinFisher 'access points' were installed within Parliament and key government institutions. Actual and suspected government opponents were targeted in their homes. Hotels in Kampala, Entebbe and Masaka were also compromised to facilitate infection of targets' devices. The CMI solicited state funds to 'bribe' collaborators to facilitate infections and intended to use collected information to 'blackmail' targets, according to the documents (see attached).
Meanwhile, the regime went ahead to make efforts to procure a communications monitoring centre, five years after the passing of the
Regulation of Interception of Communications Act. In 2013, the inter-agency Joint Security/ICT Technical committee invited bids for the project from seven technology companies based in China, Israel, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. Some familiar names were on the shortlist to supply the monitoring centre — Huawei and ZTE, NICE and Verint — and some less well known contenders — Macro System and RESI Group. And, of course, Gamma Group International.
In the meantime, the regime sought to extend its electronic surveillance program to mobile phones and its own UTL was identified as the easiest means. In June 2017, the Minister of Investment decreed that;
"Once the managerial problems in Uganda Telecom (UTL) have been “fixed, it is going to be compulsory for Ugandans to own a Utl line just as it is for you to have a national ID. You must have a Ugandan line. That is the spirit of patriotism."
The plan was to compel every Ugandan to use a UTL Sim Card that would make it easy to be subjected to electronic surveillance. Due to public uproar, the scheme was abandoned.
In July 2017 a plan to establish a cell phone factory in Uganda was hatched when a government delegation that visited China asked Chinese authorities to give Uganda a comprehensive cyber-security solution, including technical capacity to monitor and curb increasing social media misuse. Consequently, in January 2018 this year, President Museveni directed that UTL to expeditiously conclude talks with a state-owned Chinese IT company- China National Electronics Import & Export Corp (CEIEC), which had been selected to establish a smart phone factory in Uganda.
In February 2018 the Museveni regime endorsed a different Chinese firm, Xinlan Group in establishing a smartphones factory in Uganda. Two months later, in April 2018 UTL and Xinlan, a Chinese manufacturer entered into a partnership to manufacture mobile handset phones in Uganda. The partnership, according to a State House statement, was also to explore avenues into research, development in communication on top of manufacturing customized mobile phones. Xinlan Company manufactures mobile phone sets such as those branded Huawei and Samsung.
The venture was disclosed during a meeting between Museveni and UTL at State House, Entebbe where a Cellular Mobile Phone handset that was to be locally manufactured was exhibited.
It is only the three Chinese companies (including SIM which had even been given land in the Namanve Industrial Park to build a factory) that had all along been floated for partnering with UTL to build the so-called mobile phone factory or assembling plant; whatever the case. In a turn of events and out of the blue, his army has now come out announce that it was partnering with a different U.S company, CTI Africa to produce smart phones. Museveni tasked his top aide, spy, confidant and village mate, Gen. James Mugira to take charge of the project. Though its not very clear, it looks like the now Nigerian owned UTL's partnership with Chinese companies has been abandoned. To ensure a total grip on its electronic surveillance scheme, it now the army that is partnering with CTI Africa. The Minister of Investment was simply draggesd in to create a civilian image. Allaying the fear of how government will protect the locally assembled phones against similar imported sets, the Minister made it clear that;
“Through the Buy Uganda, Build Uganda policy, we shall put tax barriers for importation of products similar to those produced locally."
An insight into Museveni's electronic surveillance program is reproduced below;
Change of Guards
April 22, 2017
MUSEVENI'S POLICE STATE SCHEME GRADUATES TO SURVEILLANCE STATE
A Police State is a core characteristic of a totalitarian form of governance. The regime exercises power arbitrarily through the power of the Police Force as opposed to a state regulated by civil administration.
Citizens of a police state experience restrictions on their rights and freedoms which is subject to Police monitoring or enforcement. A political Police unit then acts for the repressive regime to control the political, economic and social life of the people in place of regular operations of civil administrative and judicial organs of the government as set about by the constitution and other legal procedures.
Citizens of a Police State face grave restrictions on their mobility and freedom to express or communicate political or other views. Such a Police State is fundamentally authoritarian and often a dictatorship which suppress citizens’ rights under the guise of state security and the leaders are seen as gods who exercise absolute powers. Political opposition to the regime is treated as a crime against the state.
As public dissent is forbiden, it inevitably becomes secret, which in turn invites the repressive Police State’s surveillance program. The regime keeps watch on what its oppressed citizens say and communicate, and keeps track of their associates and movements. Repressive state surveillance can be either overt and covert or both but can also be targeted or massive. It can be carried out by a civilian network like our village Local Councils (L.C) and Crime Preventers. It can be by the regime’s agencies – the Police and secret services, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) or by commercial corporations like mobile phone companies. Both UCC and NIRA are an extension of Museveni’s regime intelligence network.
Target surveillance is carried out on specific individual persons, places and objects and organisations. It can be carried out covertly (secretly) or overtly (publicly) using methods like interception of communication, collection of communication traffic data from phone companies, visual surveillance devices and devices that sense movements of objects and persons. Electronic tagging, targeted computers, internet, mobile phone, social media, residences, hotels, conference halls, cars, etc. The other day Dr. Besigye discovered a surveillance device that the regime had fixed in his car.
Mass surveillance also known as “passive” or “undirected” gathers information and images for possible future use. Use of CCTV and databases like it is the case in the ongoing scheme to fix CCTV cameras in all urban centres and the re-registration of SIM cards and the national ID is a classic example of mass surveillance. In civilised countries, it helps fight terrorism, crime, prevents social unrest, protects national security, fights child pornography, etc. though it limits civil and political rights while at the same time it limits privacy. Under Museveni’s Uganda, it is designed to monitor and suppress political dissent.
Ill-motivated mass surveillance scheme leads to a situation of an Electronic Police State whereby the repressive regime uses electronic technologies to record, collect, store, organize, analyse, search,
and distribute information about its citizens. Uganda is heading for massive government surveillance of landline and cellular telephone traffic, mail, Emails, Web surfing, internet searches, radio and other forms of electronic communication as well as widespread use of video surveillance. The Museveni regime has upgraded its electronic surveillance technology – thus it is trying to match it with the citizens’ database through rigorous re-registration exercise of SIM cards and National ID.
The repressive regime will deliberately make its citizens know that it runs a mass surveillance program so that it instills fear and suspicion and the consequential self censorship while its powerful coercive Police Force takes center stage. The Museveni regime already has in place the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the development of a Police State/Surveillance State/Electronic Police State. The Ministry of Information Communication techinologies (ICT), The Interception of Communications Act, The National Identification and Registration Agency (NIRA), The Public Order Management Act (POMA), The Uganda Communication
Commission (UCC), Registration of Persons Act, a rubber stamp parliament, client phone companies, cadre Judges, regime Police, regime secret services, regime militias and others are the pillars of the program.
Through covert hacking, the regime journalists, he will be able to collect, remove and add digital evidence to/from private devices of citizens without knowledge of owners. With such data, the regime will disrupt, misdirect, discredit, foster internal dispute in the opposition or smear dirt on their activities especially the leaders.
INFORMATION IS POWER
==================
Therefore, if the deal is real and doesn't turn out to be another fake investment, the future of private mobile telecommunications in Uganda is bleak. You will recall that recently Museveni's security agents forcefully gained entry into the servers of MTN. He will compel Ugandans to use his army manufactured and factory bugged smart phones so that all their private communications can be monitored. He has also launched a countrywide CCTV camera coverage scheme.
INFORMATION IS POWER AND THE PROBLEM OF UGANDA IS....
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