PVO Bill goes through First Reading in National Assembly #StopThePVOBill
The controversial Private Voluntary Organisation Amendment Bill (PVO Bill) that was gazetted on the 5th of November 2021 has been read for the first time in the National Assembly.
Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi read the Bill on behalf of the minister of public service, labour and social welfare, before it was referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC) for scrutiny.
PLC checks whether the Bill is not violating the constitution or is conflicting with other laws in the country.
If the Bill is in conflict with other laws or the constitution they issue an Adverse Report, and if it is not, they issue a Non-Adverse Report.
According to government, the Bill seeks to amend the Private Voluntary Organizations Act [Chapter 17:05].
However, civic society organisations (CSOs) are of the view that the Bill if passed in its current form, will criminalise the work of civil society.
‘’We are concerned that in its current form the Bill criminalises the work of civil society, restricts civic space and will ultimately have a negative impact on the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans who, due to the deteriorating political, social and economic situation prevailing in the country have had to rely on the work of CSOs for inter-alia humanitarian aid and holding the government accountable for human rights abuses, governance and accountability.
‘’While one of the objectives of the Bill is to ensure that the country is compliant with the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) recommendations by inter-alia ensuring that not non-profit organisations are not misused by terrorist organisations, an analysis of the Bill shows that, rather than complying with recommendations, this legislation is crafted with the view of clamping down on civic space and infringe on constitutionally guaranteed rights such as the right to association, right to privacy and right to freedom of expression,’’ reads part of the CSOs position on the Bill.
Various United Nations Rapporteurs have also castigated the Bill and have made their position known to the government. It remains to be seen how the government will going forward amid increasing pressure.
The Bill is expected to go for public consultations in the coming days. However, history has often shown that government ignores what comes out of the public hearings.
According to the Bill analysis that have been done by various civic organisation, if passed into law the Bill gives government power to take over the running of CSOs or closing them down among other things. Meanwhile, other Bills such as the Children’s Amendment Bill [H. B. 12, 2021], Child Justice Bill [H. B. 11, 2021], Labour Amendment Bill [H. B. 14, 2021] and State Universities Statutes Amendment Bill [H. B. 13, 2021] were also read for the First Time in the National Assembly and were also referred to the PLC. –