We never supported PVO bill amendment- ZIMCODD

By Staff Writer

THE Zimbabwe Coalition of Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) has distanced itself from media reports alleging their involvement in supporting the hotly contested plans to amend the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) bill.

The remarks come against a background where the government has tabled plans to closely monitor the operations of NGOs in the country amid suspicion that the organisations are working towards toppling illegal regime change.                   

The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) noted  with great concern the article by a correspondent for the Herald Zimbabwe dated 10 March 2022 titled “Participants welcome PVO Amendment Bill”, where allegations of the organisation being involved in bussing and ferrying of people from Harare and Masvingo to attend the Gutu consultation were made.

The article alleged that the organisation did this through someone by the name Prosper Tiringindi purportedly an employee of ZIMCODD. The smearing of the organisation’s name and image in both print and online media have necessitated this press release to share with the public and concerned stakeholders the facts of the matter and setting the record straight regarding the organisation’s participation in the PVO Bill public consultations.

 But in a statement, ZIMCODD said it is not associated with the developments that took place in Masving in any way.

“The organisation at all and was not in any way contracted to mobilise or ferry citizens from Harare and Masvingo to Gutu for the PVO Bill consultations on behalf of the organisation. Members of ZIMCODD who participated in the public consultations did so out of their own will and in their own right and there was no monetary incentive as purported by the article,” said ZIMCODD.

The coalition said it is regrettable that the correspondent who wrote the story defeated one of the core principles of journalism, which is the principle of “Truth and Accuracy’.

“We would like to distance ourselves from the alleged busing of people to Gutu from Harare and Masvingo purportedly through one Prosper Tiringindi.

“We Demand Herald Zimbabwe to issue an apology for the erroneous or otherwise deliberate mention of ZIMCODD in the article cited above to the effect of smearing the organisation’s image and set the record straight that there was no consultation of ZIMCODD by the writer to verify facts either in writing or in-person which is a journalistic standard.

 “It is ZIMCODD`s hope that Herald Zimbabwe will positively act accordingly and respectfully by way of correcting this anomaly. Should a legal remedy be necessitated by lack of corrective action stated above, the organisation will not hesitate to do the needful,” added ZIMCODD.