Govt warned over PVO Bill

Brenna Matendere

Harare—Political scientist and publisher Ibbo Mandaza has described the revised Private Voluntary Organisations (Amendment) Bill currently at the second reading stage in parliament as “superfluous” and urged civil society organisations (CSOs) to reject it.

 

Mandaza made the remarks on Tuesday evening during an X Spaces dialogue jointly convened by Information for Development Trust (IDT) and Alpha Media Holdings (AMH).

In addition to Mandaza, the other key speakers were Peter Mutasa, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition chairperson, and Farai Marapira, the ruling Zanu PF communications director.

Titled “PVO Bill: Legitimate Legislation or Tool of Repression?” the discussion came in the wake of an investigation commissioned by IDT which revealed a renewed clampdown on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) by State agencies in the wake of the 2023 general elections.

The investigation showed that security agents were among agencies using non-existent laws to profile, monitor and clampdown on leaders of registered NGOs and CSOs.

The probe also noted that officials from the ministry of Local Government were harassing private voluntary organisations (PVOs) by forcing them to divulge information already shared with the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare ministry that governs their operations and trying to stop their operations too.

The bill was approved by Senate in February last year but President Emmerson Mnangagwa refused to sign it and sent it back to parliament for amendments before the elections.

On Tuesday, the bill went through the second reading in the national assembly after a wave of public hearings.

It will undergo the third reading before being taken to the upper chamber, the senate.

Mandaza said it is important for CSOs to stand up and push back the bill before it is signed by Mnangagwa into law.

“The bill is a kneejerk reaction by government to its thinking that NGOs are there for regime change. Such claims are unfortunate and even stupid. The bill is superfluous and it must be rejected and thrown into the dustbin.

“CSOs must not allow thuggery to prevail. They must keep up the pressure. Freedom does not come on its own,” he said.

Mandaza expressed doubt that President Mnangagwa would sign the bill into law considering that it had taken a long time being processed.

“I don’t believe Mnangagwa will sign it (bill) given the amount of time that has passed. The time lapse suggests that Mnangagwa and government have developed cold feet,” said Mandaza. “The proposed bill is overzealous and cannot sustain itself.”

The academic added that passing the bill into law would further tarnish the image of the Zanu PF government locally and internationally.

Zanu PF’s Marapira defended the bill, insisting that it was constitutional and a genuine effort to counter terrorism and money laundering in line with recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

“What is frivolous is for CSOs to reject the bill which simply seeks to counter terrorism and attempts at money laundering by these NGOs. I don’t know why the NGOs are startled because the provisions of the bill were a product of the Financial Action Task Force,” said Marapira.

He accused the majority of CSOs and PVOs of being anti-government, adding that they employed poor corporate governance practices, so needed to be supervised.

Marapira claimed non-State institutions were fronting for opposition political parties and abused donor funds, hence the need for them to be regulated, arguing that the proposed amendments to the current PVO Act would help forestall terrorism.

“The fact that there is no terrorism today does not mean it will not be there tomorrow. We therefore need to be pre-emptive,” he said.

If passed into law, the PVO bill will give the government unfettered discretionary power to interfere with non-governmental operations and control their funding.

It will also give the authorities unchecked power to designate any PVO as “high risk” or “vulnerable” to terrorism abuse, thereby allowing the government to revoke its registration and remove or replace its leadership.

In addition, PVOs would be required to receive approval from the government for any “material change” including changes to its management and internal constitution.

While the government claims that the PVO Amendment Bill is necessary to ensure counterterrorism and anti-money laundering, there are already laws in place to address these matters.

Speaking during the same dialogue, the IDT director, Tawanda Majoni, dismissed Marapira’s claim that NGOs and CSOs were anti-government, challenging him to prove the accusation.

“Marapira said most NGOs are anti-government. When he says that, he is confirming the position of the Zanu PF government that there must be clampdown on NGOs.

“To the contrary, NGOs are using parallel ways to ensure humanitarian wellness. Zanu PF sees NGOs as competitors wanting to take over their space. There is no evidence to buttress that.

“There is need for a rethink of the relationship between the government and NGOs. Let’s get rid of the adversarial mentality and finding common ground,” said Majoni.

Mutasa, the Crisis Coalition chair, said the government must abandon legislating non-state actors.

“Instead, as we have always insisted, we can self-regulate just like other professions that include lawyers and engineers,” said Mutasa.

 

On 1 February 2022, a group of CSOs wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, expressing numerous reservations with the PVO bill.

Foreign diplomats also warned Mnangagwa against signing it into law.