THE government will not drop its plans to put in place legal measures meant to punish non-governmental organisations (NGOs) it perceives as hostile to it through the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill, a top official has said.
Last year the government gazetted the PVO Amendment Bill which seeks to regulate the operations of civil society organisations amid criticism from various stakeholders including legal watchdog, Veritas who believe it violates the country’s constitution.
But speaking during the second reading of Bill in National Assembly on Tuesday, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the law, if passed, was going to deal with NGOs who allegedly want to fund terrorism and political parties.
“This Bill does not speak to those law-abiding PVOs, but to the few who may be tempted to use the guise of charity to carry out undesirable, harmful and even criminal activities.
“For instance, we have received communication from the Financial Action Task Force, the world’s policemen against money laundering, that some charitable trusts are being misused as a means for channelling funds to fund terrorism and other criminal activities, or to launder the proceeds of criminal activities by, for instance, buying properties in Zimbabwe and other countries,” Ziyambi said.
The minister said the government had also gathered information to the effect that there were some organisations that were working to advance certain political interests.
“Some so-called charities act in a politically partisan manner by directing money to favoured political parties or candidates at the expense of others.
“Partisan assistance using foreign money or money collected from the public under the guise of charity must never be allowed to influence the outcome of national or local elections. In many developed countries, this kind of behaviour is understood to be harmful to the very idea of charity.
“In the United States, for example, you cannot register any organisation as a non-profit organisation for tax purposes if that organisation campaigns or canvasses for any political candidate or party.”
Ziyambi who is also the leader of government business in Parliament added that the Bill seeks to clean up the space within which PVOs operate.
“For some time now, the government has noticed that some so-called charities have completely by-passed the Private Voluntary Organisations Act by forming “trusts” sanctioned by the High Court.
“This is a device that is specifically permitted by the Act because originally the government did not want to discourage families or individuals from forming family or private trusts to benefit family members or members of the public using their own wealth.
“It is still not our intention to impose registration on these kinds of private trusts. However, if it appears that any trust is using, for “charity purposes”, foreign money not generated by their own activities or investments, or using money collected from members of the public at large, then they must be required somehow to register as a PVO under the Private Voluntary Organisations Act.
“We want such trusts to be accountable in the eyes of the public on the sources of their funds and the use to which they are put.”
All this comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa last threatened to deregister all NGOs that are allegedly diverting from their mandate.
“As the election season unfolds, we are observing a notable number of NGOs diverting from their operational mandates to delve into political matters that amount to interference in the internal affairs of our sovereign country. My government will not broker any such disregard for our laws and will proceed to de-register all organisations found in the wrong, party structures must be vigilant and expose such elements,” Mnangagwa said then.