Former Sinda MMD member of parliament Levy Ngoma says Minister of Transport and Communications Brian Mushimba must ban Facebook in his own bedroom.

On Tuesday, Mushimba government may ban access to Facebook, Google and other sites if fake news, cyber bullying and other computer based crimes become a threat to national security.

“We may be forced to go the China way,” said Mushimba.

But in an interview, Wednesday, Ngoma said Mushimba should ban Facebook in his bedroom because citizens depended on social media for information.

“Let him ban Facebook, WhatsApp and social media in his own bedroom and probably in his own family and village. Where we have reached now, we have reached a very different time and age. This is an information age where the right to information is an international right. The enlightenment of citizens is dependent on such facilities,” he said.

Ngoma, who is UPND Food and Water Development chairman, observed that the ruling party wanted to ban social media to hide corrupt activities.

“They think that by banning Facebook and social media then their corruption activities will go uncovered. That’s not the way we are supposed to behave. If anything, we need Facebook and WhatsApp to be extended to the rural setup so that the country may become more knowledgeable. It’s wrong for him to say that. Especially that those words are coming from a person who is in charge of information,” he said.

Ngoma said only dictatorial and corrupt regimes would behave that way.

“We can not go back to the stone age. The dark ages. Not at all. It is only regimes that are oppressive, regimes that are dictatorial, regimes that are corrupt like the PF is, regimes that think they know it all would behave like that. The Zambian people cannot accept that. There is no space for such backward thinking. They can not be sending us into those dark ages. Akayende akachitile kwao kumunzi, na mu bedroom mwao (let him go and ban Facebook in his village and in his bedroom) not in this time and age,” said Ngoma.