Simplification of the PVO Position Paper

What is the P.V.O bill?

The Private Voluntary Organizations Act (PVO) provides for the registration of Private Voluntary Organizations and the regulation of donations that such organizations receive.

Five reasons why the PVO bill is bad

  • It is a colonial legislation not suitable for democracies
  • It infringes on the rights provided for in Section 58 of the Constitution i.e freedoms of association, movement which are guaranteed in the supreme law. This might make the proposed amendments unconstitutional if they are not properly captured or implemented.
  • It allocates too much power to the Minister, who in the end is also just a political actor!
  • Application process is cumbersome and established to create blockages! Among the requirements are; Lodge application with Registrar of PVO board, application is in complicated format, Registrar then lodges with Board, publicize for public for objections, need to gazette, amendment is treated as new application.
  • Financial terrorism is a national threat, regulating PVOs alone is reverse targeted terrorism! The law only targets PVOs, therefore government may misuse the law to target PVOs for closure citing them as terrorists’ organizations.

Read the full simplified matrix here(184 KB)

Source: Zimbabwe Institute

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