It now awaits
Presidential assent to become law.
The Bill passed
through Senate amid rising political tensions in the country over a spirited
attempt by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s supporters to extend his term of
office by a further two years from 2028 when it expires to 2030.
Mnangagwa last
year said he was not interested in having his term extended, saying he intends
to retire in 2028.
Zanu PF adopted
a resolution at the party’s conference last October to extend his term of
office, but the plot has met fierce resistance from grassroots supporters as
well as war veterans.
Observers said
the PVO Bill, once signed into law, would cow government critics and civic
society organisations (CSOs) as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
into silence.
Government
accuses CSOs and NGOs of being anti-Zanu PF and pushing a foreign agenda.
Critics have
condemned the PVO Bill as anti-democratic saying it is targeted at government’s
perceived opponents.
They also said
it was meant to interfere with the operations of NGOs.
The PVO Bill
was initially passed by Senate in February 2023, but Mnangagwa referred it back
to the legislator during the 9th Parliament for reconsideration.
While
addressing senators, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi clarified amendments to
the Bill, which introduce a board to oversee the registration and operations of
charitable entities in Zimbabwe.
The amendments,
which were passed in the National Assembly, aim to provide clear definitions of
pre-existing charitable entities and outline the registration process.
According to
Ziyambi, the transitional provision requires charitable entities to submit
their registration documents to the registrar within three months of the Act
coming into operation.
However, this
does not mean that entities will be fully registered within three months.
Rather, the
registrar will consider the date of submission as the starting point for the
registration process, which may take longer to complete.
Ziyambi
emphasised that the registrar is a member of the board and reports to it.
All matters
related to registration will be tabled at board meetings for approval or
further action.
Ziyambi said
the three-month timeline was reasonable and allowed entities sufficient time to
submit their applications without delaying the registration process.
He also noted
that entities will have recourse to the courts if they are aggrieved by any
decisions made during the registration process.
United Nations
experts last year urged Mnangagwa to halt enacting the Bill after it was passed
by Senate.
The Bill allows
the State to interfere with CSOs’ governance and activities.
PVOs and NGOs
will be required to register with the Registrar’s Office, which wields powers
to consider, grant or reject an application with little to zero judicial or
administrative recourse against such decisions. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment