PVO Bill bother for residents associations
Providence Moyo
BULAWAYO-Residents Associations operating within the Matabeleland jurisdiction have raised concerns over the recently gazzeted Private Voluntary Organizations Ammendment Bill.
This came to light during a meeting held in Bulawayo which was hosted by the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA).
Speaking during the event, Mosupotsula Nare of Women’s Institute For Leadership Development (WILD) raised concerns about the process of registration under the Bill amendment.
“It is worrisome that the Bill does not seem to specify how long the registration process will take and as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) we need to have a clear understanding of the process of registration because our work is characterised by deadlines and donors would not appreciate a delay in the fulfilment of objectives,” she said.
Another participant who is a lawyer by profession, Nosmilo Chanayiwa said that, from a legal point of view, once the Bill sails through, it is likely to severely cripple the work of NGOs.
“The Bill seeks to give too much power to ministers on designation of high risk organisations as it emphasises that there will be punishment of NGOs that are deemed “dangerous” and the punishment can go up to 10 years of imprisonment which is problematic because the Bill does not specify the qualities of a dangerous organization,” said Chanayiwa.
Fidelis Chima of the Greater Hwange Trust also aired his concerns over the Patriotic Bill, saying that the Bill seeks to place CSOs at the mercy of government.
“The Patriotic Bill can be politicized to close down some NGOs that might not be working in line with expected behavior hence the Bill will also shrink the seemingly expanding space of NGOs. Due to fear of being labelled unpatriotic, there will be alignment between the responsible ministry and NGOs which then will not yield anything in terms of monitoring but will just cripple our abilities and capabilities to carry out our mandates,” said Chima.
Public Policy analyst, Teddy Ncube stressed that a good Bill must be democratic, outward looking, innovative, flexible and inclusive.
“Authorities must use evidence that backs up the foundation of the policy and must be joined up with existing policies that give it a back up,” he added.
Residents organisations that were present including BPRA, WILD, Greater Hwange Residents Trust, Lupane Residents Associations, Binga Residents Associations, Gwanda Residents Association, among others, were unanimous in highlighting their suspicions and apprehensions around the Patriotic Bill.
The Clerk of Parliament gazetted the Private Voluntary Organizations Amendment Bill, H.B. 10, 2001, on November 5, 2021. The bill seeks to amend the Private Voluntary Organizations Act.
