PVO Amendment Bill goes through First Reading in National Assembly #StopThePVOBill
The Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill [H. B. 2, 2024] has been read for the first time in the National Assembly.
First Reading is the first stage that a proposed law (Bill) goes through when it is introduced in Parliament after being gazetted.
During the First Reading, the Minister responsible only reads the short title of the Bill, and it is then automatically referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC).
A Bill has two titles, a short title and a long title. A short title is just the name of the Bill, while the long title will include Bill principles and what it seeks to address, which is done at the start of the Second Reading stage.
The duty of the Parliamentary Legal Committee is to check whether the Bill or Statutory Instrument does not go against the provisions of the constitution or existing laws.
If the proposed Bill does not violate the existing laws, then the PLC issues a Non-Adverse Report. But if it violates the current laws then it issues an Adverse Report.
Previous Bill was rejected by Mnangagwa
The PVO Amendment Bill was tabled in the 9th Parliament and sailed through all the Houses before being rejected by President Emmerson Mnangagwa who sent it back to Parliament.
It remains to be seen what the Parliamentary Legal Committee will say about the current draft, as several legal experts said the previous one was unconstitutional.
However, if it is passed, the law could have a negative effect to how civic society organisations work in Zimbabwe.
The law gives the government powers to interfer with the internal operations of civic society organisations.
There have been lobbying efforts at various internal and external levels for the government to reconsider the Bill. However, the government has shown no intentions of backing down from its positions.
PVO Amendment Bill goes through First Reading in National Assembly
