TISS mpo? Ajira za Usalama wa Taifa wa Wenzetu,Tangazo la Nafasi za Kazi Gazetini

Wajuzi wa mambo wanadai kuwa moja ya mambo yanayopunguza ufanisi wa Idara yetu ya Usalama wa Taifa ni tabia iliyoota mizizi ambapo kila kigogo anataka kumpatia mwanae,mpwae,mtoto wa rafiki yake,nk katika ajira ya taasisi hiyo nyeti.Haina ubaya kutoa ajira iwapo mwajiriwa mtarajiwa atakuwa na sifa husika.Lakini uzoefu umeonyesha kuwa kanuni na taratibu zinabemendwa makusudi ili ajira hizo ziende kwa watu wa karibu wa vigogo hao.

Kibaya zaidi ni ukweli kwamba wengi wa watoto wa vigogo wanapopata ajira kwenye taasisi kama hii ambayo msingi wake mkubwa ni uzalendo wa mtumishi husika hujiona kama 'untouchables' flani,wanafanya mambo wapendavyo,usumbufu mtaani kwa zile 'unajua mimi ni nani/nafanya kazi wapi' huku bastola zikiachwa zionekane waziwazi kama Aden Rage.Wengi wa hawa vijana hawafahamu jukumu kubwa walilonalo kwenye kila sekunde ya uhai wa Mtanzania.Don't get me wrong kuwa ninajifanya kuelewa sana mambo haya lakini ukweli ni kwamba taaluma ya ushushushu ni uti wa mgongo wa uhai wa taifa lolote lile duniani.Idara ya Usalama ya nchi ikiyumba,nchi nayo inayumba.Watu wengi hawaelewi umuhimu wa chombo hiki kwa vile kimaadili kinapaswa kufanya kazi zake kwa siri,japo watoto wa vigogo wanaona usiri huo kama kero.

Anyway,nimekutana na tangazo la ajira za ushushusu katika 'Idara ya Usalama' (wa ndani-yaani ya kuzuia ujasusi) ya Uingereza-MI5 au kwa kirefu Military Inteligence,Section 5)-ambalo limewekwa kwenye gazeti la bure la kila siku la METRO.Utaratibu huu ambao sitarajii kuuona ukiigwa na taasisi nyingi za usalama duniani,achilia mbali yetu,unaweza kusaidia sana kufanya zoezi zima la kuajiri (recruitment process) kuwa ya huru,wazi na inayowekea mkazo uwezo,ujuzi na sifa za mwombaji kazi (based on merit(s)).

Hii ni mada nyeti kwahiyo naomba niishie hapa.Ukiwa na swali,usisite kuniuliza (majibu yatategemea swali limeulizwaje).

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UK Media vs Mashushushu: Vyombo vyetu vya Habari Vinaweza Kudiriki?

Makao Makuu ya MI6 jijini London

Makao Makuu ya Shirika la Utangazaji la Uingereza (BBC) jijini London

Mashirika ya ushushushu ya Uingereza,MI5 na MI6,leo yalitarajiwa kuieleza Mahakama Kuu ya hapa kwamba siku zijazo  taarifa za kiusalama zitazokusanywa nje ya nchi hazitawekwa hadharani kortini hata kama zimepatikana kwa kuwatesa watuhumiwa (torture).

Mwaka jana,mahakama ya rufaa ilitupilia mbali kesi kwa kile ilichokiita jaribio la kudhoofisha kanuni ya msingi ya sheria: mshtakiwa lazima aone na kusikia ushahidi uliotumiwa kujenga kesi dhidi yake.

Sasa mashirika hayo ya usalama wa ndani (security) na ujasusi (intelligence) yanapambana na uamuzi huo.Baadhi ya vyombo vya habari vya hapa,magazeti ya The Guardian na The Times,na Shirika la Utangazaji la Uingereza (BBC)-chombo cha umma hicho kama TBC1,Daily News na Habari Leo-pamoja na vikundi vya haki za binadamu vya Liberty na Justice,vilitarajiwa kutoa hoja mbele ya majaji waandamizi kabisa wa hapa kuwa kama hoja ya mashirika hayo ya kishushushu ikikubaliwa,itabomoa nafasi ya kesi kuwa ya haki na kumomonyoa  imani ya umma kwa maamuzi ya mahakama.Mawakili wa taasisi hizo za habari na haki za binadamu walitarajiwa kudai kuwa kanuni hizo ni muhimu hasa panapokuwa na madai ya maafisa wasiomudu majukumu yao ipasavyo (incompetent) au kutenda makosa.

Shauri hilo linatokana na madai ya raia (citizens) sita na mkazi (resident) mmoja wa Uingereza waliokuwa wakishikiliwa katika jela ya kuhifadhi watuhumiwa wa ugaidi ya Ghuba ya Guantanamo,kwa kile wanachodai ushirika wa siri kati ya MI5 na MI6 na mamlaka za Marekani.Watuhumiwa hao waliyataka mashirika hayo ya ushushushu kuonyesha ushahidi wa nyaraka kuhusu ufahamu wa  mashirika hayo katika uamuzi wa siri wa Marekani kuwapeleka jela hiyo,na ushiriki wa MI5 na MI6 katika suala hilo.

Japo watuhumiwa hao wameshafikia makubaliano ya fidia inayokisiwa kuwa mamilioni ya pauni za Kiingereza  (baada ya kuachiwa kutoka Guantanamo),mashirika hayo ya kishushushu yanataka kuanzisha kanuni mpya kwamba hakuna taarifa ya kiusalama itakayowekwa hadharani kwenye kesi yoyote ile ya madai au ya jinai.Tayari MI5 na MI6 wameshaonyesha wasiwasi wao katika mgogoro wa kitambo sasa kati yao na majaji wa mahakama kuu juu ya shinikizo kwa mashirika hayo kuonyesha ushahidi wa kuhusika kwao katika mateso aliyopewa (mmoja wa watuhumiwa hao) Binyam Mohamed,mkazi wa Uingereza aliyeshikiliwa kwa siri katika jela nchini Pakistan na Morocco kabla ya kupelekwa Guantanamo.Majaji waruka pingamizi la aliyekuwa 'Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje' (Foreign Secretary) wa hapa ,David Miliband,na kuweka hadharani muhtasari wa taarifa za (Shirika la Ujasusi la Marekani) CIA kwa MI5 na MI6.

Kama mashirika hayo ya usalama na ujasusi yakishinda madai yao,taarifa yoyote ya kiusalama na/au kijasusi inayohusu kesi ya madai au jinai itaonyeshwa kwa majaji na waendesha mashtaka pekee na sio washtakiwa au hata mawakili wao.Badala yake,taarifa hizo zitaonyeshwa kwa "mawakili maalumu" waliohakikiwa kiusalama (vetted).

Mwaka huu, Serikali ya Uingereza inatarajiwa kuchapisha muswada kupendekeza kipengele cha sheria kinacholitaka Bunge kuzuwia ushahidi wa uliopatikana kwa njia za ushushushu kuwekwa hadharani kortini,hatua ambayo inapingwa na majaji.  

Habari hii nimeitafsiri (kadri nilivyoweza) kutoka toleo la jana la gazeti la The Guardian la hapa Uingereza.Lengo la kutafsiri na kuiweka habari hiyo hapa bloguni ni kutoka changamoto kwa vyombo vyetu vya habari-hususan vya umma-kusimamia haki za jamii.Wengi wetu tumekuwa tukihudhunishwa na namna TBC,Daily News na Habari Leo,taasisi za habari zinazoendeshwa kwa fedha za walipakodi (pasipo kujali itikadi zao za kisiasa) wanavyoendesha shughuli zao kana kwamba ni vyombo vya habari vya CCM.Ikumbukwe kuwa vyombo vya habari ni mhimili  wa nne wa utawala wa nchi (pamoja na Bunge,Mahakama na Serikali),na hivyo kuwa na wajibu wa kutopendelea au kuegemea upande wowote dhidi ya maslahi ya umma.

    

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Was Body of MI6 Spy Submerged in Mystery Fluid to Speed up Decay?

The policeman who found the body of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams said it was submerged in ‘fluid’, The Mail on Sunday has learned.An inquest heard last week that the 31-year-old spy was padlocked in a sports hold-all and left in the bath of his two-bedroom flat in Pimlico, Central London.But the disclosure that he was also covered by liquid – not thought to be blood or water – has raised fears that a substance was used to accelerate decay and complicate toxicology tests.

The revelation came as new details emerged of the highly sensitive nature of Mr Williams’s work.A source said he had the highest security clearance available to an intelligence officer and was part of a secretive ‘cell’ that created devices that can steal data from mobiles and laptops.

Now, nearly two weeks after cycling enthusiast Mr Williams was found in his flat, police are apparently no nearer to learning how or when he died.This is despite a post-mortem, a second examination and toxicology tests, the results of which might not be available for weeks.

Sources close to the inquiry say the PC who found the body described it as being in ‘fluid’ when he radioed for assistance. Detectives at the scene are understood to have used the same word in their reports.Immediately after making the discovery at the flat, the PC said: ‘This is a murder scene.’

Mr Williams, from Anglesey, North Wales, worked as a cipher and codes expert for the Government’s eavesdropping centre GCHQ in Cheltenham.He was on a year-long secondment to MI6 which was due to end days after he was found dead.Police and security sources have indicated that the explanation for his death is more likely to be found in his personal life rather than his work.

But speculation that he was the victim of a professional ‘hit’ was given credence last night after further details of his work were disclosed.‘He was involved in some very sensitive projects, known as codeword protected,’ said a security expert.‘This meant that only the people in his cell would know what he was working on, and nobody else in his organisation.

‘You are signed in to these projects and once you finish one you are signed out and you no longer have access to any data or news about what is happening in the project.’Mr Williams – a child prodigy who had a degree in maths at 17 and then a PhD in the subject – was part of a team that created devices which ‘hook’ on to mobiles and laptops. ‘It is an aggressive form of Bluetooth or similar wireless technology,’ said the security expert.

He said such devices would be used by spies on the ground to steal data from the handsets of unsuspecting terrorists, organised criminals or officers from rival intelligence agencies.‘Traditionally, there has been a separation of MI6 and GCHQ,’ said the expert. ‘MI6 has been full of the James Bond types working on the ground and GCHQ is filled with boffins with beards who are doing their scientific stuff. ‘But recently there has been a merger of these agencies’ work and Williams was at the forefront of that. This was why he was on secondment to MI6.’

He added that Mr Williams did similar work when he had stints at the National Security Agency in America.The NSA is the equivalent of GCHQ and has been leading the West’s attempts to intercept communication between Al Qaeda cells. Mr Williams worked for the Special Delivery Team, a unit set up in the NSA to create advanced bugging and intercepting devices.

‘If you just look at Williams’s CV, you know he has worked in some of the most important data-mining centres in the UK and US. His salary is no indication of his rank,’ said the expert.

It has also emerged that before his secondment to MI6, Mr Williams worked briefly for MI5, the domestic security agency. As part of that work, he was sent to Bulgaria on a secret mission.A source close to the investigation said that on August 23 police were asked to check on Mr Williams’s flat as he had not shown up for work. Just before 6pm, a PC went to the Georgian townhouse in Alderney Street, which has been converted into four flats on four floors. Mr Williams had the top one.

The PC could not get into the house so the letting agent, W.  A. Ellis, was called and a woman employee arrived with keys.She hovered at Mr Williams’s door as the PC went inside. Within minutes he emerged quickly from the en suite bathroom and escorted the woman back downstairs. He then told her: ‘You stay here. This is now a murder scene.’

This weekend, staff at W. A. Ellis, of Knightsbridge, refused to confirm details.A spokeswoman said: ‘36 Alderney Street is owned by a private company, New Rodina.‘There has been speculation that it is linked to MI6 or that it is a front for MI6. Our clients do not have any links to MI6 whatsoever and are distressed by the death of Mr Williams.’

SOURCE: Daily Mail

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MI5 TURNS 100

MI5: To defend the realm

Britain's counter-intelligence agency turns 100 next month. Historian Nigel West looks at the service's success, its secrets and scandals

by Nigel West

26 Sep 2009

Happy Birthday, MI5. The UK's counter-intelligence agency celebrates its centenary next month and my, how it's changed: from an organisation so completely veiled in secrecy that even the British government would not admit it existed, to one in which its Director-Generals now talk openly to the media – and even write books on their time there.

Its foundations were inauspicious to say the least. The perceived intelligence disaster of the Boer War prompted the Committee of Imperial Defence to review the failure of the British Secret Service. However, it was discovered that no such organisation existed. So the CID recommended the creation of a new branch of government, the Secret Service Bureau, the origins of MI5.

It was headed by Captain Vernon Kell, a veteran of the Boxer rebellion in China (and an occasional Telegraph correspondent); while Director-General, he was known simply as "K". The Bureau launched with a tiny staff consisting of a single ex-Scotland Yard detective and three clerks; compare this to today when the occupants of Thames House (MI5) and Vauxhall Cross (MI6), on opposite sides of the river, number several thousand.

Kell's great success was the arrest in the opening days of the First World War of the entire German spy ring in Britain, which conveniently centred on a barber's shop in north London. The arrest of Karl Gustav Ernst, his assistant Wilhelm Kronauer, and 21 of their network effectively eliminated what had been intended as a large enemy operation. It also ensured that when, in January 1916, the Secret Service Bureau was split in two and assigned the cover names MI5 and MI6, the "Imperial Security Service" would be perceived as too valuable and important an instrument to disband at the end of hostilities.

MI5 would remain under Kell's control, exercising independence from successive political administrations while avoiding causing embarrassment, until the end of his tenure in June 1940. Indeed, his only confrontation with any prime minister occurred when Stanley Baldwin demanded MI5 place Edward VIII's American lover, Wallis Simpson, under surveillance. Kell initially refused the order, but eventually relented, having been persuaded by his deputy and senior staff that the operation was indeed intended to defend the realm.

Most Cabinet ministers were content to allow MI5 a large measure of freedom because of the quality of the information it gathered. This was often gleaned from informants inside the Communist Party of Great Britain, or from secret sources such as KASPAR, a microphone concealed in the central London offices of the Young Communist League. MI5 also had the benefit of MASK, the clandestine wireless messages transmitted to and from the CPGB's covert radio located in Wimbledon. For three years until March 1937, when the CPGB changed its code based on a popular edition of Treasure Island, MASK ensured that discreet counter-measures stymied every Communist-inspired scheme, strike and coup. It also offered proof that the CPGB was not a legitimate political party, but a sinister outfit controlled from Moscow.

Since Kell's departure, MI5's 14 successors have ensured the Security Service has been free of political influence. Staffed mainly by women, it has tapped telephones, intercepted mail, opened diplomatic bags, recruited sources, managed double agents, liaised with Allied agencies and maintained a watch on suspected spies, saboteurs and subversives for 100 years without engendering the scandals that have hamstrung its counterparts in Europe and the United States.

As far as is known, it has suffered hostile penetration on only four occasions – two of which were during the Second World War. The first concerned William Rolph, a retiree who had volunteered to spy for the German intelligence organisation, Abwehr. When MI5 confronted him, he committed suicide in his office in Piccadilly. To avoid arousing the suspicions of the Abwehr, however, MI5 asked the coroner to record that Rolph had died of a heart attack. The second saw secretary Celia Luke, a Communist Party member, leak information from MI5's famous registry. She was dismissed, but not prosecuted.

Apart from the Cambridge-educated Anthony Blunt, who worked for MI5 from June 1940 to October 1945 while reporting simultaneously to the NKVD, the Soviet Union's secret police organisation, only Michael Bettaney, an Oxford graduate, has passed on classified material from inside MI5. He was arrested in 1983 and sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment.

Early in the Second World War, MI5 achieved a breakthrough by allowing a Welsh nationalist, Arthur Owens, to transmit a daily weather report from his prison cell in Wandsworth to the enemy. Owens had been recruited by the Nazis and was arrested in 1939. However, he agreed to work as a double agent, and contacted his German handlers from jail.

Owens gave access to the Abwehr's top-secret communications across Europe which, protected by an Enigma machine cipher, were thought to be impregnable. However, Owens' daily transmissions were re-ciphered on the enemy's Enigma channels, thus allowing cryptographers at the signal's intelligence service's headquarters in Barnet to crack Germany's Enigma codes.

Postwar austerity, combined with a reluctance to be accused of acting like the Gestapo, ensured that MI5 would find its work hampered against Communist subversion and Soviet espionage. Limited resources and a growing reliance on tips by well-informed defectors resettled in the US reduced MI5's status within Whitehall.

It was the ill-fated and brief affair conducted in 1961 by the war minister John Profumo that demonstrated how vulnerable the British system of government was to a poorly planned entrapment operation. Unaware of any relationship between Profumo and Christine Keeler, MI5 sought to persuade Eugene Ivanov, an identified GRU officer based in the Soviet naval attaché's office, to defect by recruiting his friend, the society osteopath Stephen Ward, to act as an intermediary. Caught in the middle was Profumo, whose career then collapsed as he attempted to conceal his affair. He had been approached by the Cabinet Secretary to assist MI5 and Ward in honeytrapping Ivanov, but had misinterpreted the encounter as a warning to distance himself from Keeler.

The MI5 molehunter Arthur Martin, when asked what he had achieved during his lengthy counter-espionage experience, had replied "bringing down the Macmillan government". Certainly, the Denning Report, which was laudatory about the role and performance of the Security Service, alerted the public to the kind of operations that had been conducted behind the scenes to protect the country against Kremlin-orchestrated subversion.

If publication of the Denning Report, which revealed for the first time the mandate given to MI5 by the Home Secretary, marked the end of an era of deference, it also provided a temporary respite from political interference and supervision. Unknown to the Cabinet, MI5 had been wracked by the fear that it had suffered hostile penetration by at least one mole. The details would emerge in 1986 with embittered retiree Peter Wright's book Spy Catcher, a breathtaking glimpse at MI5's dirty laundry.

Three years later MI5 was legitimised by the passage of the 1989 Security Service Bill which, guided by Stella Rimington, the first woman Director-General, gave the Service statutory powers and requirements. There followed a dramatic change in role, with the collapse of the Soviet threat and the acquisition of the lead responsibility for countering domestic terrorism, then focused on Northern Ireland.

The application of classic, conventional counter-intelligence methodology, which challenged the Provisional IRA as if it were a hostile intelligence agency, proved dramatically successful. But it was the unanticipated appearance of home-grown Muslim extremists that ended an era of complacency and a political desire to dismantle a security apparatus that was seen to have outlived its usefulness.

There were insufficient resources to deploy against known threats from radical zealots, and there followed the tragedy of a suicide plot hatched by fundamentalists whose individual dossiers, initiated by telephone intercepts and physical surveillance, had been shelved by an inexperienced MI5 officer. The officer, on that fateful occasion, was unable to fulfil MI5's motto: "To Defend the Realm".

 Nigel West is the author of 'TRIPLEX: Secrets from the Cambridge Spies' (Yale University Press, £17.50), out tomorrow

SOURCE: The Daily Mail

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