ZIMBABWE’S struggling economy stands to lose about US$1 billion annually after the National Assembly passed the controversial Private Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) Bill last week, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has said.
The controversial Bill will likely see some civil society
organisations (CSOs) stopping their operations in Zimbabwe, while others may be
forced to close shop, critics say.
When the Bill was introduced in November last year, it
sparked fury from the public, civic society and the opposition who said it
would shrink democratic space by giving broad powers to government to control
operations of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
In an interview, NGO Forum executive director Musa Kika
said development aid was 10 times the Foreign Direct Investment.
The Forum is a consortium of 22 human rights organisations
in the country.
“This decision by some individuals who want to protect
their political power is disastrous to our economy. The Zimbabwean economy is
underperforming and looking at the policy statement issued by Finance minister
Mthuli Ncube this year gives a breakdown of where foreign currency is coming
from,” Kika said.
“He stated that development aid in the form of grants was
bringing in a staggering figure of about US$975 million, which is almost a
billion.”
Ncube also estimated that grants would fall from US$776
million this year to US$352,8 million next year, a difference of US$423,2
million.
Critics say if signed into law, the Bill would provide
government with unfettered discretionary power to interfere in the operations
of NGOs.
With its provisions, government could designate any PVO as
“high risk” or “vulnerable” to terrorism abuse, allowing the minister to revoke
its registration and remove or replace its leadership.
PVOs may also be required to get approval from the minister
for any “material change”, including changes to its management and internal
constitution.
Government has argued that the law is necessary to comply
with global counterterrorism and anti-money laundering regulations, but critics
say the country already has laws to deal with such concerns.
It has also accused CSOs of pursuing a regime change
agenda.
Economic analyst Gift Mugano said given that Zimbabwe was
still under sanctions, the Bill would have a significant impact on the social
and economic growth of the nation.
“If the development partners channelling funds into this
economy withdraw or reduce financial aid, our country is going to suffer more,”
Mugano said.
“Zimbabwe is under sanctions and development partners do
not channel funds through the government as they do in other countries like
South Africa. The country will lose billions of US dollars, also worsening the
unemployment rate.”
CSOs and opposition political parties have urged government
to withdraw the Bill, which aims to monitor and regulate NGO activities.
Critics feel that the PVOs Amendment Bill may have been
inspired by government’s historical perception of NGOs as pro-opposition and
anti-establishment, particularly those in the human rights and democracy
cluster.
Centre for Natural Resource Governance director Farai
Maguwu told NewsDay in an interview that the decision by Parliament was against
economic development, contradicting President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vision 2030.
“Our country is in a deep economic crisis mainly because
the government fails to deliver life-giving services to the people. Our roads
represent a country that has been at war for the past 40 years or more,” he
said.
“Our service delivery died, hence we have people travelling
as far as Karanda Hospital in Mashonaland Central (province) seeking medical
attention, a hospital supported by development aid.
“The government should be appreciating the role development
practitioners are playing to safeguard the lives of Zimbabweans. We have
development partners feeding the people which the government must feed.” Newsday
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