Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to push for the passage of the contentious Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO) Bill in the initial session of his new term. This bill is widely perceived as an effort to stifle independent civil society.
Several bills, including the PVO Bill, the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, Public Finance Management Amendment Bill, Medical Services Amendment Bill, and the Insurance Bill, remained unresolved from the ninth Parliament, which was dissolved prior to the general elections in August.
Although the PVO Bill reached the president’s desk earlier, it has since lapsed and must now return to a Parliament where Zanu-PF no longer holds an outright two-thirds majority.
Civil society groups are anticipated to persist in their efforts to dissuade the president from endorsing the PVO Bill, asserting that it would severely curtail freedom of association and expression in the country.
The bill prohibits civil society groups from engaging in politics and grants the state authority to intervene in their internal management and funding. Non-compliant organizations could face closure, and their leaders could be subject to imprisonment. This legislation has drawn parallels to similar attempts in apartheid-era South Africa and contemporary Russia to restrict foreign funding for civil society.
During the opening of the 10th Parliament, Mnangagwa emphasized that the pending laws should be finalized in the first session of this Parliament. In Zimbabwe, a parliamentary session typically spans a year, with five sessions in a parliamentary term.
In total, the initial session will witness the introduction of 17 new bills, while four outdated ones will be discarded.
Regarding the opposition’s absence, Opposition Chief Whip in Parliament, Amos Chibaya, explained that they did not recognize Mnangagwa as a legitimate leader, hence their decision to abstain from his address.
Nonetheless, Mnangagwa urged all legislators to actively participate in the formulation and enactment of the country’s laws, emphasizing the role of Parliament in promoting peace, national development, and the reinforcement of constitutionalism and democratic practices.
Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi disclosed that he had been tasked with exploring measures to reprimand opposition legislators for their non-attendance at the opening ceremony.
