It now awaits President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s accent to
become law.
Opposition legislators and human rights activists want the
controversial Bill canned amid fears that if passed into law in its current
state will further shrink the country’s democratic space and lead to closure of
several NGOs perceived as anti-government.
One of the country’s major financiers United States Agency
for International Development (USAid) yesterday warned that its programmes with
local PVOs would be severely affected if Mnangagwa signs the Bill into law.
USAid has provided US$4,5 billion support to Zimbabwe since
1980.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum recently said the
country’s struggling economy stands to lose about US$1 billion annually if the
controversial law is signed into law.
Critics say its passage will see civil society
organisations (CSOs) stopping their operations, while others may be forced to
close shop as some of the provisions in the law give broad powers to government
to control their operations.
Zanu PF senators yesterday supported passage of the Bill,
saying it was a necessary tool to whip “rogue” NGOs and CSOs into line.
“This Bill does not speak to those law-abiding
organisations, but those who come in the guise of charity to carry out
undesirable harmful and criminal activities. For instance, we received
communication from the Financial Action Taskforce that some charitable trusts
are being misused as a means of channelling funds to fund terrorism and other
criminal activities,” Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told Senate yesterday.
Ziyambi said Parliament did a good job by passing the law
despite “a few dissenting voices”.
While opposing passage of the Bill, senator Morgen Komichi
(MDC Alliance) urged government to enact laws that would ensure foreign
organisations supporting developmental projects in the country work without
interference.
“This law has caused panic in communities,” Komichi said.
Speaking to NewsDay, USAid Zimbabwe acting mission director
Priscilla Sampil said its programmes with several PVOs would be affected.
“USAid remains committed to working with, and supporting
the people of Zimbabwe through assistance programs that promote a more
resilient, inclusive, and democratic society,” Sampil said.
“This work is conducted through international partners as
well as local PVOs and NGOs to ensure they benefit the people in need. Without
commenting on the contents of any proposed legislation, we note that anything
that restricts the ability of these organisations to operate, and anything that
creates a sense of trepidation or uncertainty among them, is likely to be
unhelpful.
“USAid has provided over $4,5 billion in assistance to
Zimbabwe since 1980. US investments of more than $1,3 billion since 2006 to
fight HIV and AIDS have contributed to an 80% decline in the annual number of
HIV-related deaths,” she said.
In its Bill Watch publication released on Tuesday, Legal
think-tank Veritas had urged senators to repair the damage done by the National
Assembly which rushed the Bill through without participation of opposition
members who later complained that they were denied a chance to contribute to
debate on the Bill.
“This came about
when opposition MPs who wished to speak against the amendments were not present
physically — and were unable to contribute virtually because the virtual
platform was not working properly due to lack of connectivity,” Veritas said,
adding that the controversial Bill was
passed without proper scrutiny by Parliament.
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum executive director Musa
Kika described its passage in Senate as a “shameful development”.
“The senators that voted for this Bill know that it is a
bad law, save for a few disillusioned ones. They know they are putting
political expediency over our democracy, over citizens’ interests and over the
welfare of the people. It is a shameful development, and it will come back to
bite us all as a people.
“I am not surprised though; our leaders are prepared to
burn it all in pursuit of political power. They are no as democrats nor do they
genuinely believe in the very ideals of the liberation struggle — which are
freedom, self-rule and prosperity. This Bill defeats these three ideals,” Kika
said.
Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) director Jestina Mukoko said:
“It comes as no surprise that the Bill sailed through Senate. What we will
begin to witness soon is the shrinking of democratic space for CSOs.”
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) chairperson Peter
Mutasa said: “We were not expecting any miracles from a Senate that is not
independent from the Executive. This simply cements the position that we have
been talking about — that the Constitution has been suspended.
“We are under a military dictatorship and all institutions
of the State have been captured by the ruling elite. Parliament is no longer
functional, and any other institution of State that is supposed to guarantee
separation of powers, constitutionalism and rule of law has been weakened.
Zimbabwe has sadly gone back to the Rhodesian era. We are witnessing the
government taking everything from the rule book of the Rhodesian colonial
government.” Newsday
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