By Staff Reporter
Civil society actors fulfil diverse crucial roles including: delivering services to poor and marginalised people; giving them a voice in processes that affect their lives; advocating for change on a wide range of issues; holding governments and non-state actors to account; and promoting inclusive and sustainable development in line with the sectoral, national, regional, continental and global agendas and commitments.
The recent acceleration of the trend of ‘closing’ or ‘shrinking’ civic space through repressive laws and extralegal tactics has been observed globally.
The President of Zimbabwe has recently signed and ratified the African Charter on Democracy, which expects all members to adhere to the universal principles of democracy and respect for human rights, as well as to uphold the rule of law as premised upon the supremacy of the Constitution.
Ideal,this calls for an enabling environment for CSOs to play a watchdog role in upholding the principles of democracy and human rights. Narrowing the operating space for CSOs through over-regulation as envisaged by the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill,2021, goes against best practices as well as the principles set out in various international instruments which Zimbabwe has ratified.
Impact of closing up of civic space
• Local civil society suffers greatly from closing space. Organisations are forced to disband, relocate or change activities; ability to secure funding may be greatly impacted, whilst intended beneficiaries, usually the marginalised,are left worse off.
• Deteriorated civic space contributes to wider movements of democratic recession, through reduced scrutiny and reporting on policies and on human rights violations and abuses, as well as on attempts to subvert independent institutions.
• Development and humanitarian partners also experience pressures and restrictions in terms of the type of programmes they can fund, lack of respect for international humanitarian law, and limited opportunities for political dialogue. Broadly, development is slowed down and international relations are strained.
• Civic space is an integrated part of the 2030 Agenda. SDG 16 is about promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development,access to justice for all and “building effective inclusive and accountable institutions at all levels”.Closing up Civic space derails the 2030 Agenda from this perspective. Why the PVO Act is being Amended?
• To comply with Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) Recommendation (recommendation 8-to ensure NGOs are not misused by terrorist organisations to finance, conceal or divert funds intended for terrorist purposes) (s2 and s22 PVO Amendment Bill)
• To streamline administrative procedures for PVO regulation and registration (new s2(3) s13) PVO Amendment Bill)
• To restrict PVOs from political lobbying (s10 PVO Amendment Bill) S2(3) High risk PVOs The Minister may require an organisation,he considers high risk, to register as a PVO and prescribe special measures to mitigate such risks. This is to ensure the country complies with Recommendation 8 of the FATF recommendations.
• There is an inherent possibility of abuse of this provision as Minister has wide discretion to define high risk and the Minister does not have to conduct risk assessment before designating an organisation as high risk; mitigation prescriptions could be tailored to specifically target ‘problematic’ organisations. S2(4) Double Registration and the ability of Trusts to fundraise.
The Registrar will have new powers to require institutions not exempted in s2 (1) who are collecting contributions from the public and outside the country for purposes outlined in paras s2(1)a-g in the definition of PVO, to desist from collecting such contributions pending registration as a PVO.
This provision places upon these organisations a mandatory duty to register as a PVO; failure to do so amounting to an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment. This provision attempts to ensure that regulation of CSOs is streamlined and guided by one piece of legislation as a majority of CSOs will be forced to register as PVOs.
The provision fails to appreciate that organisations have been opting not to register as PVOs thus far due to long and cumbersome procedural requirements. Trusts registered with the Registrar General will be required to register twice; with the Registrar General and under the PVOs Act. There is a risk of having to report to two competing regulatory bodies.
This is likely going to create a fertile ground for complex, multiplicity in compliance and tight regulation of CSOs especially those currently registered as a Trust. As best practice, newly adopted laws should not require previously registered organisations to re-register The ability of an organisation to seek resources whether locally and internationally is integral to freedom of association.
The Amendments will prohibit trusts from fundraising from the public and outside the country without a reason. Inherent delays in procuring registration as a PVO will slow down or hinder the work of CSOs at a crucial time such as the upcoming elections; some organisations will be denied registration due to being labelled high risk and/or failing to meet the special measures required to mitigate risks.
The option to choose the type of entity to operate as is taken away. S9: A fee for registration of a PVO There will now be a fee for registration or re-registration of a PVO.
This could become a burden for organisations which have to constantly re-register at the instance of a material change as provided for by s13A of the Amendment Bill. S10: Restriction from Political Lobbying Any PVO that supports/opposes or contributes funds to a political party or candidate (contrary to Political Parties (Finance) Act is guilty of an offence punishable by imprisonment of up to 1yr and/or a fine.
The language is so broad that it is difficult to predict the prohibited behaviours and it has implications on freedom of association.
The provision indirectly reduces political pluralism and restrict the monitoring of governance and/or political issues; it takes away the right to choose the type of work an organisation chooses to focus on and narrows operating space for organisations in the governance sector (this is contrary to s58 of the Constitution which provides for freedom of association).
S13A: Re-registration at the instance of a material change Re-registration is required if there is any material change in the original application submitted for the registration of a PVO; Any material change such as a change in ownership or control of the PVO calls on the PVO secretary to apply with the Registrar for amendment of particulars of Registration within a month from the date when the material change occurred. Although this ensures that the Registrar has up to date information on registered PVOs.
