Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Leaders of various Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) met President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House in Harare on Friday.
NewsDay reported that the meeting was a last-minute bid by CSOs to persuade Mnangagwa to stop signing the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill into law.
The Bill is currently being scrutinised by the Attorney-General’s (AG) office after it sailed through Parliament.
In a tweet, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Ndavaningi Nick Mangwana confirmed the meeting. He wrote:
Late this afternoon HE President Emmerson Mnangagwa met and engaged with representatives of CSOs in Zimbabwe at State House.
The subject of the engagement was the PVOs Bill which is currently being tidied up by the AG. The meeting was cordial and good-natured.
Some of the CSOs leaders who attended the meeting include Jenni Williams (Women Arise Zimbabwe), Isaac Maphosa, and Musa Kika (Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum).
The trio reportedly refused to disclose the outcome of their meeting with Mnangagwa.
But representatives from Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition were excluded from the meeting.
Critics of the amended PVOs Bill say it will enable the government to severely restrict the operations of civil society organisations.
The government will be able to deregister CSOs perceived as rogue or susceptible to money laundering and funding terrorism.
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