The government has told Non-Governmental Organizations to comply with the controversial Private Voluntary Organizations Bill or join the war in Ukraine.
The PVO Bill is threatening the existence of NGOs as the government tries to stifle their influence in political, social and economic spaces ahead of the 2023 elections.
Despite wide resistance from the civil society spaces, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is adamant to enact the bill into law.
Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Larry Mavima threatened that NGOs would be de-registered as the government no longer saw their relevance and accused them of meddling in politics.
“How long should we continue relying on other people? The country is built by its own people. As much as possible we are now able to do a lot of things without NGOs. There was a time when NGOs were necessary. But we have to get out of this mentality.
“I was serious when I said if there are NGOs which feel that they have something; let them go to Ukraine where there are people in need of their services because there is war. Here we are a peaceful country. No one is bombing us,” Mavima said.
If passed into law, the PVO Amendment would provide the government with unfettered discretionary power to overregulate and interfere in nongovernment organizations’ governance and operations.
For instance, its provisions provide the government with unchecked power to designate any PVO as “high risk” or “vulnerable” to terrorism abuse, thereby allowing them to revoke a PVO’s registration and remove or replace its leadership.
In addition, to avoid civil penalties, PVOs would be required to receive approval from the government for any “material change” including changes to its management and internal constitution. Furthermore, PVOs would be prohibited from supporting or opposing any political party or candidate.
The bill is attracting strong resistance from human rights defenders who say the Mnangagwa regime is crippling the civil space and looking to silence human rights activists.
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum director Musa Kika emphasized the government must allow NGOs to function freely to allow for checks and balances.
He noted that civil society and government must work together to strengthen democracy.
“The government is being short-sighted and is choosing perceived political expediency over livelihoods, economic well-being, strengthened governance and all that civil society represents.
“We have no precedent anywhere in the world where the government operates successfully without civil society, bearing in mind that civil society is the people, citizens self-organizing over issues of community and national importance. There is no sustainability in what the government is doing, so the comments attributed to the minister (Mavima) are unfortunate,” Kika said.
The Robert.F.Kennedy Human Rights organisation called on the government to withdraw the enactment of the PVO bill as it stiffles the democratic space.
“Zimbabwe is a party to several regional and international treaties which guarantee freedom of association. Section 58 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe also guarantees this right.
“Instead of trying to pass the PVO Amendment Bill, which overregulates and restricts the operation of nongovernmental organizations in violation of regional and international law and the Constitution, the Zimbabwe government should consult and work with civil society to better foster an enabling civic space as promised in the country’s laws and policies,” the organisation said in a statement.
