Failed or stalled? A critical account of public oversight of surveillance in southern Africa

Abstract

This article compares public oversight mechanisms of surveillance in Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Drawing on in-depth interviews from Zimbabwe and document analysis from Mozambique and Namibia, it examines why public oversight has failed and stalled in holding governments accountable for abusive surveillance practices in three political contexts. The article argues that three interrelated factors explain these outcomes: the absence of an ‘aware public’ engaged in monitoring intelligence institutions; entrenched elite resistance to civilian involvement in oversight; and the lack of a unified civil society vision for what intelligence oversight should entail. While Namibia saw partial attempts at public oversight that subsequently stalled, Mozambique and Zimbabwe experienced near-total failure. The findings underscore the importance of public awareness, judicial independence, and coordinated civil society action in enabling effective intelligence accountability in southern Africa.