The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) has reiterated that the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill works against efforts to promote democracy and unilaterally affects operations of Civic Society Organisations (CSOs).
The PVO Amendment Bill was gazetted in November 2021 to amend the PVO Act and states that the purpose of the amendment is amongst other objectives to comply with the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) aligning the country’s laws with recommendation and ensuring that PV0s are not misused by terrorist organisations. Public consultations on the Bill have this week been running across the country to give citizens an opportunity to register their views.
ZIMCODD bemoaned the existing political polarisation in the country where dissenting voices have been subjected to restrictions and arrests.
“The Bill militates against efforts to promote representative democracy in the country. It is being introduced in a highly polarised pre-electoral environment and will likely serve to close the already shrinking democratic space in which dissenting voices are routinely subjected to censorship and unconstitutional restrictions.
“The Bill does not advance the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) aimed at addressing money laundering and terrorist financing as it claims. It unilaterally affects all Civil Society Organisations. Government should instead consider focused and balanced measures to effectively regulate those organisations at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing,” said ZIMCODD
The debt and development organisation implored the Government to direct efforts towards aligning key financial regulations to the Constitution.
“The FATF recommendations which this Bill claims to respond to have already been addressed in other laws and policies. As such the introduction of a new Act is no substitute for government’s own failure to utilize existing laws and policies to fulfil the FATF recommendations.
“In this regard, government must direct its effort and spend resources towards comprehensive measures to align key financial regulation legislation to the Constitution. In particular government can advance the FATF recommendations by finalising the Public Finance Management Bill and the Mines and Minerals Bill which is pending finalisation since 2016,”
The PVO amendment bill has received widespread condemnation from Non-Governmental Organisations saying it negatively affecting the rights of communities which depend on the work of CSOs for information, humanitarian assistance, social cohesion, and structured participation in developmental processes.
