Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum says the country is set to lose about US$1 billion annually if the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) Bill is passed into law. The Bill was passed by the National Assembly last week.
NGO Forum executive director Musa Kika told NewsDay that development aid was 10 times the Foreign Direct Investment and the passage of the Bill threatens to undermine the economy. Said Kika:
This decision by some individuals who want to protect their political power is disastrous to our economy.
The Zimbabwean economy is underperforming and looking at the policy statement issued by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube this year gives a breakdown of where foreign currency is coming from.
He stated that development aid in the form of grants was bringing into the country about US$975 million, which is almost a billion.
The Bill was introduced in November 2021 and members of the public, civic society and the opposition said it will enable the government to limit the operations of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Among other things, the Bill allows the government to revoke the registrations of PVOs that are considered “high risk” or “vulnerable” to terrorism abuse.
The government has, however, justified the law saying it is necessary to comply with global counterterrorism and anti-money laundering regulations.
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