Thabiso Nxumalo
The only public hearing for the Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO) Amendment Bill for Masvingo province ended prematurely on March 1 after violence erupted between some participants who began to fight, accusing each other of having sponsored views on the contentious bill.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Services, Labour and Social Welfare had to abandon the venue as attendants started fighting during the hearing, clashing over split views along political ideologies.
Though a mixed bag of views, most attendants raised a NO vote to the bill and the few that consented to the bill were considered sell-outs thereby sparking a squabble within the group.
Before being pulled aside by security for being partisan, one participant who out rightly claimed to be from the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-Alliance said the bill was good for him and likened the bill to a house-keeping measure.
“I am an MDC-Alliance supporter and as such I see the bill as a general housekeeping precaution. No one can just come to our household and start operating without making themselves and their intentions known to us and in that spirit, we do not want a case whereby we groom terrorists in our own backyard,” said the participant.
One Gutu United Residents and Rate Payers Association(GURRPA) member said Zimbabwe as a nation is not at a stage where it can sustain itself and as such must give well-wishers in the form of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) a comfortable space to operate in-order to complement government efforts.
“We as a nation cannot sustain ourselves without any help from these NGOs, so as such. I do not know why they should be given a tough time in trying to assist us survive,” said the member.
Gutu resident, Tatenda Zambara said if PVOs are genuinely seeking to help the public without any affiliations, there is no need for panic because this is just a measure to monitor and not to block them.
“Why are PVOs running amok and crying foul because this Bill just serves to monitor the sector and not to obliterate them?
“If we leave them be without monitoring, we risk having terrorist groups that are funded right below our noses. This is just for national security and besides every house has their own rules and this is our rule as a nation, even super powers like the United States of America have such laws that govern PVOs,” said Zambara.
Women Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) Masvingo Chapter chairperson Joyce Mhungu said the Bill is not citizen friendly and hearings should have been held in both rural and urban setups in Masvingo.
“For full effectiveness, these hearings should have covered both the rural and urban populace and a lot of pre-emptive knowledge should have been shared to the public before these hearings because most of the participants showed lack of knowledge about the bill,” said Mhungu.
With participants sharing a cocktail of views on the bill and affiliating them with their political parties stand points, a fight broke out as Tatenda Zambara said amidst the crowd were youths bussed and bought by HEAL Zimbabwe to come and cause commotion and voting NO against the Bill.
“There are NGOs that are not for development in the country and as we speak, they sent some youths present today to come and disrupt this meeting.
“They have been sent by organizations such as HEAL Zimbabwe, so to that regard I wish that this bill will sail through parliament,” said Zambara.
