This Thursday, the Mozambican parliament debated the Proposed Law on Aerial Surveys and Cinematography for Civil Purposes, which the Government considers necessary to end “the jungle” in the use of drones and guarantee national security.
According to the agenda released by the Assembly of the Republic, the legislative body also considered the Proposed Law that Establishes the Legal Regime Applicable to Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME).
Mozambique's Minister of Defense, Cristóvão Chume, said, at a parliamentary hearing on March 6, that the country needs to regulate the use of drones, because these devices are operated in a “jungle”, in a reference to the lack of law on the matter. .
“We are in a wild field, where everything we worry about is happening without regulation“, stated Cristóvão Chume, during a hearing with the deputies of the Defense, Security and Public Order Committee of the Assembly of the Republic, on the proposal for the Law on Aerial Surveys and Cinematography for Civil Purposes.
Chume stated that the absence of a specific standard on the subject is allowing uncontrolled overflight by drones of areas of military operations, in barracks, survey of geological, topographical information, on fauna and other types of resources.
"With this proposed law, we will have an opportunity to say how we want things to happen and who should do it.“, he underlined.
The Minister of National Defense assured that the future diploma will respect the fundamental rights of citizens, including freedom of the press, with the exception of restrictions imposed by situations such as a state of emergency.
BUT: National Police will use drones in operations and crime monitoring
Cristóvão Chume stated that the law will guide the use of drones, placing due limits on the use of this type of device and other aerial vehicles for capturing information.
Places such as installations of the Defense and Security Forces, the Presidency of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic, airports and public events without authorization for overflights will be legally protected from the use of the aforementioned devices, the official added.
Cristóvão Chume highlighted that the future standard will allow investments so that information collected by aerial vehicles for economic purposes is processed in the country and not outside, as is currently happening.
“There is a need for investment in national institutions so that, little by little, we can reduce the possibility of resorting to foreign companies in the area of cartography, because, sometimes, sensitive information that has to do with gas and oil research, Because the information is complex, it has to be taken outside the country“, Chume emphasized.
This data analyzed abroad may not return to the country, he continued.
The Minister of National Defense said that the process of authorizing the use of unmanned aerial vehicles must involve that department, the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) and the State Information and Security Service (SISE).
