Public Hearings the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) amendment bill (H.B. 2024) were abandoned recently in Masvingo, Chinhoyi, and Harare. Ruling party Zanu PF youths disrupted the hearings, preventing people with opposing views from participating.
Civil society organizations criticize the bill. They say it restricts freedoms of expression and association if passed in its current form. It also grants the government excessive control over their operations.
The legislation allows government intervention in how civil society groups are governed and function. Violations could result in hefty fines or imprisonment.
Passionate Fuza, a communications officer for an NGO called Zimbabwe Human Rights Monitors, was forcibly removed by Zanu PF youths after expressing her opposition to the bill.
Zanu PF youths began booing and chanting protest songs (“asingade ngaabude muZimbabwe…”) while she presented her views. The hearing ended within 10 minutes. Members of the Joint Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare and the Thematic Committee on Gender Development quickly left the venue fearing for their safety.
Similar disruptions occurred in Masvingo, where people opposing the bill were driven out violently. Reports claim injuries during the chaos.
Human rights activist Dzikamai Bere called the incident unfortunate and a sign of national project failure.
“This is regrettable,” Bere said. “The violence witnessed yesterday wasn’t spontaneous. It was orchestrated by political elites who couldn’t tolerate people seeing through the PVO Bill’s hypocrisy. We know this because the hired goons didn’t even try to hide their intentions. The violence in Masvingo and Chinhoyi exposes the true nature of the PVO Bill: an attack on civic space and the public’s right to participate in discourse. If these violent tactics are used against Parliament with impunity, imagine what will happen to NGOs if the Bill is passed.”
