Government to shut down political NGOs

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has threatened to shut down Non-Governmental Organisations that are involved in political activities.
This was revealed by the acting Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Kazembe in a press release on Tuesday.

"The government has not with great concerned that some private and voluntary organisations  and/or NGOs are have negated their objectives and are now meddling in politics." Kazembe said.

"Should these organisations continue with this behaviour, the government will not hesitate to withdraw their registration certificates. This is within the confines of the PVO Act section 10 which gives government the mandate to deregister organisations which fail to comply with its terms of registrations."

The Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO) Act, originally introduced by the Rhodesian government and revived in 2002, sets out registration and funding requirements for NGOs.

 Civic organizations must register with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, and the minister appoints a PVO Board, which has extensive powers to scrutinize organizations' officers, finances, and activities.

Organizations in violation of board standards may be fined, their registration revoked or amended, or their members imprisoned. In 2005, the finances of scores of NGOs were investigated by interministerial teams that included representatives of the Central Intelligence Organization.

Parliament in 2004 passed the Non-Governmental Organizations Act, which bars the registration of foreign NGOs engaged in "issues of governance," including human rights organizations, and bans domestic "governance" NGOs from receiving foreign funding.

The act also expanded the definition of NGO to include religious and environmental organizations and private trusts, and created an NGO Council with more oversight powers than the PVO Board. Former President Robert Mugabe declined to sign the act at the time, but many of its provisions have been enforced.