Thabiso Nxumalo
Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO)s in Masvingo have expressed dissatisfaction on the Private Voluntary Organization Amendment Bill of 2021 which may soon be passed into law if it passes in parliament.
Speaking to stakeholders at the Civil Society Organization (CSO) workshop on the amendment bill on November 25, 2021, Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST) Legal advisor Tonderai Mashavave said the bill to amend the Private Voluntary Organizations Act of 2013 was promulgated on November, 5 2021 and was soon to be discussed in parliament.
He also explained that the bill sought to amend 11 sections in the current Act.
“The PVO Amendment bill was promulgated on November 5 and seeks to amend 11 sections in the current Act and as such we are at a level of educating and engaging CSOs and will then focus on the general populace.
“After which we will have a meeting with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and other stakeholders,” said Mashavave.
Local PVO representatives at the meeting said the amendments which were sought to be put in place gives the ministry absolute power and writes off transparency from the ministry as they can suspend PVO licenses without an explanation but as they wish.
“This bill is infringing some basic human rights. It gives absolute power to the ministry, especially clause six up to nine which states that PVOs must consult with the registrar for any changes including that of its executive board members. In every change it means they have to re-register and it is possible that they may not be given a license on the second registration,” said one participant.
Another participant Maud Moyo deplored the section which states that PVOs will have to pay to register to get a license deviating from free registration that is enshrined in the Act and said she does not understand why non-state actors that are working to compliment government efforts are given such a draconian bill.
“Why should we pay to get registered to compliment government in developing the society? I do not understand why they give us such a tough time in offering humanitarian assistance, it seems like they want to stop PVOs in assisting the vulnerable people in the community,” said Moyo
Other clauses in the bill includes that, those who fail to comply or meet certain criteria will be liable to fines up to ZW$ 500 000 or up to ten years imprisonment.
The battle for control of civil society operations by government has been on-going for quite some time with the government accusing NGOs of being agents of regime change agenda.
Harare Provincial Development Coordinator (PDC) once irked the ire of NGOs in the capital after requiring the latter to seek clearance from his office before resuming operations.
Masvingo District Development Coordinator (DDC) Roy Hove and Zaka assistant DDC Victor Zinanga once banned NGO operations in their respective districts.
