21 Sep 2020

The Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) has noted ongoing media reports and social media discussions regarding its staff deployment policies.

While it is not the Directorate’s desire to respond to every debate in which it is the subject, it is necessary to set the record straight regarding media speculation suggesting that there may be ulterior motives behind staff redeployments sanctioned from time to time.

The Directorate, due to the nature of its mandate; cannot be static particularly in the face of the ever-evolving national security challenges.

To this end, like all government departments, the Directorate is duty bound to steer a strategic course that will enable it to perform its mandate efficiently.

Upon assuming command of the Directorate in 2018, Brigadier (Rtd.) Peter F. Magosi had the responsibility to transform the organization.

The Director General has himself outlined his road map in several media engagements, in Councils and in Parliament.

To that end, it goes without saying that the Directorate was always going to undergo changes and the changes were always going to have implications for staff.

The Director General also acknowledges that there will always be challenges when implementing changes but will always ensure that any arising issues are addressed professionally and internally.

The Directorate would like to assure the public that in its evolution and transformation, DIS has the best interest of staff at heart and their welfare remains prioritized.

The narrative in the media that some staff members are being targeted for reasons other than the professional is misguided and seeks to incite the fallacious notion that an organization can undergo strategic changes without some or all of its employees being affected.  

Meanwhile, the Directorate wishes to dissuade its employees from using the media as a conduit for exposing internal and classified information as this is not only against requirements of the Intelligence and Security Service Act (2008) but beneath established norms of the profession.

There are established channels of addressing internal issues, including grievances about redeployments.

Therefore, action will always be sanctioned against officers who disregard this norm.

While the Directorate will always do everything in its power to secure the country’s national interests, other sectors of society, including stakeholders such as the media are encouraged to take role in the promotion of the country’s national security seriously and responsibly.

Media bodies have a responsibility to rein in on their members and associates, particularly when they imperil national interests and security. Ends