Independent Norton legislator Temba Mliswa has poked holes on the Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO) Amendment Bill questioning the use of the proposed law when there are others laws overriding the same.
The PVO Bill sailed through Senate yesterday and now awaits President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s approval.
Posting on Twitter the outspoken Mliswa said the Bill lacks clarity and praised late President Robert Mugabe who declined to assent to the Bill when it was first brought to Parliament in 2005.
“The PVO Bill suffers from an acute lack of clarity which makes it amenable to obtuse and biased interpretations. In our political environment we understand how the law has become a weapon in itself. A vague law is even worse as it can be abused more.
“This isn’t the first time this piece of legislation has come around. It was brought to Mugabe in 2005s & he refused to assent to it. Mugabe felt the NGO Bill was “too obnoxious” and would portray government in bad light in the eyes of the international community. This was a Pan African Mugabe, with all the rhetoric against the West but he still had the wisdom to realize it when he saw a strategically wrong move. Obstinacy or vindictiveness can never be a sustainable way to govern a country.
“As country we already have enough laws to deal with all the issues cited under the PVO Bill such as money laundering. What further use do we have for another law specific to the CSOs unless there is a hidden agenda? Outside the 3 arms of government, CSOs have been vital in holding government to account through various programs. Where political parties have been compromised to stand for the truth CSOs have stepped into the gap. It’s unfortunate when that part of governance is now stifled,” said Mliswa
He said the Bill is a drawback to the re-engagement process and takes away the strides that had been made.
“Within the larger context of the re-engagement drive this PVO move is an ironic self-destructive move. It takes away from the body of work already done to get the country back into the global community. It’s a contradiction of a larger agenda.It’s a lie that we can exist on our own or even with only a segment of the globe as countries such as China, which we look to, associate and cooperate with the West which we bastardise. It’s a fallacy and rally-rhetoric to operate and act as if we are in the Cold War era.
“Another simple matter is tax revenue. CSOs, in the aftermath of the non-existent industry and companies in this country, generate so much revenue for the Gvt through taxes. Why do we need to create impediments for ourselves? We are already in a bad spot, why worsen it. Again these kinds of reactionary pieces of legislation are forever caught in a circle of amendments, debates and repeal by new leaders. It’s because they are not emerging from a nationally progressive ethos. They are a political instrument,” he said
Mliswa said as a political strategy the PVO Bill is akin to burning the whole forest to flush out a rabbit and the action is not commensurate to the intended objective.
