Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said on June 8 that the Private Voluntary Organisations Act does not empower the Minister to suspend any NGO’s operations.
Social Welfare minister Nicholas Goche, in a circular dated June 4, banned non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in humanitarian work accusing them of breaching the terms and conditions of their registration.
But ZLHR director Irene Petras said the order was illegal.
“The Private Voluntary Organisations Act does not empower the Minister to suspend an NGO’s operations,” Petras stressed. “Also, section 10 of the Act, cited in the letter, empowers the PVO Board, not the Minister, to take action to de-register an NGO.”
Goche’s letter to the NGOs reads: “It has come to my attention that a number of NGOs involved in humanitarian operations are breaching the terms and conditions of their registration as enshrined in the Private Voluntary Organizations Act [Chapter 17:05], as well as the provisions of the Code of Procedures for the Registration and operations of Non Governmental Organizations in Zimbabwe (General Notice 99 of 2007). As the Regulatory Authority, before proceeding with the provision of Section (10), Subsection ( c ), of the Private Voluntary Act [Chapter 17:05], I hereby instruct all PVOs/NGOs to suspend all field operation until further notice.”
Petras said whatever the legality of this instruction, it was a political reality. She added that Goche was no longer a minister because Cabinet had been dissolved and improperly reconstituted.
“It is a matter of public record that the pre-29 March Cabinet was dissolved and they have not been properly and lawfully re-constituted,” Petras stated. “This argument is currently before the Constitutional Court in the matter of Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo vs. The President of Zimbabwe and Minister of Justice, Legal & Parliamentary Affairs and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, where the MP-elect is challenging the purported powers of the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and a similar argument can potentially be raised in respect of the case at hand. It is therefore submitted with respect that this notice is a legal nullity.”
Junior information minister Bright Matonga told the official press here Saturday, June 7: “All NGOs have been ordered to apply for new registration permits as part of measures to clamp down on the incidences of civil society meddling in the country’s politics ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off.”
The United Nations has described the new restrictions as “scandalous” and warned that children will be particularly vulnerable to the cutback in food deliveries.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the ban would severely hamper assistance to millions of people.
“These restrictions are also coming at a time when food security in Zimbabwe is deteriorating, leaving an increasing number of people vulnerable,” Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for OCHA, said.
European Union Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said in a statement: “This ban must be lifted right away. I am deeply distressed to think that hundreds of thousands of people who depend on aid from the European Commission and others for their very survival now face an even more uncertain future.”
According to the latest World Food Programme assessment, more than 4 million of Zimbabwe ‘s 11.9 million people are in need of food aid.
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