The closure of civic space

By Wilbert Mandinde/Yassin Nhara

On March 2 2021, the now late Zanu PF legislator for Mberengwa South, Alum Mpofu moved a motion in the National Assembly for the drafting of the proposed “Patriotic Bill” which seeks to criminalise private correspondence with foreign governments. Mpofu indicated that he was concerned about the negative portrayal of the country’s image and reputation and cited that as the reason for moving the motion.

At the opening of the Third Session of the Ninth Parliament (2020), President Emmerson Mnangagwa indicated that there were at least 37 Bills in the pipeline aimed at amending or replacing existing laws. Among them was the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill (PVO Amendment Bill), which was intended to overhaul the administration of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private voluntary organisations (PVOs) in the country. The development came as no surprise given various commentaries by government officials and associated actors that members of the NGO and PVO were descending into the arena of politics and involving themselves in activities outside their mandate.

On March 15 2021, The Herald newspaper reported that the government was scheduled to deregister 450 NGOs for their failure to adhere to their mandate in terms of their registration. Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Paul Mavima, was quoted as saying the names of the affected organisations had been published by the government and that the deregistration was necessitated by inactivity and failure to submit tax returns.

Of common interest is the deliberate narrowing of the civic space and a general interference with the activities of civil society organisations. Given the general portrayal that civil society as divergent from the interests of the State over the years, it is a useful exercise to give context to the rift between civil society organisations (CSOs) and the government, since they depend on each other for the betterment of society as a whole.

On June 24 2020, the DailyNews reported that the Zanu PF-alligned Zimbabwe Citizens Forum (Citizens Forum), had called for an audit of CSOs in Zimbabwe to identify those that were fuelling anarchy in the country. Similar sentiments have also been echoed by the President at various fora. Taurai Kundishaya, who is the Citizens Forum national co-ordinator stated that: “I understand that civil society organisations are watchdogs to the government. However, there is need to understand who is behind theses civil society organisations, who funds them and for what purpose. We should be very much vigilant and aware of certain civil society organisations and unions who are there to further their own agenda and are siphoning money from funders under the guise of removing government from power.”

Evidently, there are two general inferences that can be drawn from the aforementioned statement. Firstly, that certain CSOs are viewed as existing for the sole purpose of furthering their own nefarious agendas, and secondly, that certain CSOs are aligned with a perceived agenda to topple the government. Similar sentiments have been echoed directly by the government, which has on several occasions threatened to deregister NGOs in Zimbabwe for purportedly descending into the political arena and being hostile to the government.

As early as December 12 2018, barely four months after the President’s inauguration, Labour and Social Welfare acting minister Kazembe Kazembe, briefed Cabinet that: “Some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are dabbling in politics. We are not at liberty to disclose the names, but we are warning them and say they must stick to their mandate. Should these organisations continue with this behaviour, the government will not hesitate to withdraw their registration certificates.”

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On July 10 2020, the New Zimbabwe online news website reported that Mnangagwa had threatened to deregister some CSOs on the basis that they were interfering in the political arena and deviating from their mandates. It was reported that while addressing a Zanu PF politburo meeting at the party headquarters, Mnangagwa told Western embassies in the country to stop interfering in the nation’s internal affairs.

On August 13 2019, the government released a statement in which it threatened to deregister CSOs for failing to comply with the law and advocating a change of government. In the statement, Home Affairs minister Cain Mathema said: “Let me state it again, all NGOs must work with the government or they should close their offices and each has to tell us who funds them and how they use their funds. If they do not work with the government, they are spy organisations. My ministry knows that its officers are human rights officers all the time during the performance of their duties,”

Perhaps the most telling and concise summation of the government’s perception of CSOs is found in the remarks by Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu in his opening speech at the Zanu PF policy and co-ordination meeting held at the party headquarters on August 18 2020 in which he stated: “We should all remember that neo-colonial forces are hard at work and our enemies like USA will use everything in their arsenal to destabilise the region as they advocate for regime change of all former liberation movements through the opposition parties, civil society organisations which they sponsor.”

Having briefly highlighted statements made by both government and non-government actors, it is apparent that there are well-pronounced tensions by the government against opposition figures and CSOs. This is clearly premised on the misguided perception by the government, that CSOs and opposition figures act in collusion to effect regime change, when on the contrary CSOs will merely be carrying out their mandate which includes, among other things, holding the government to account.

In this context, it can be concluded that the proposed Patriotic Bill and the PVO Amendment Bill are targeted at cracking down on perceived dissent. Moreover, the effective gagging of civil society sets the compass in a retrogressive direction that is misplaced, not only within the Zimbabwean context, but globally as well.

It is worrying to observe the apparent acrimony directed towards CSOs by the government. In a functional democracy, both exist to complement each other. Civil society and CSOs ideally exist as critical sources of information for the government.

They monitor government policies, actions and activities, which serve as a valuable tool in ensuring that the government is held accountable for what it does. Additionally, they engage in advocacy efforts, and perhaps most importantly, defend citizens’ rights and protect and promote human rights.

The agendas of the government and civil society are, for all intents and purposes, constitutionally aligned and ought not to be adversarial in nature. In the “New Dispensation” which was declared to be divorced from the practices of the previous regime, it is alarming to observe the continued aggressive attack perpetrated by government. The proposed legislative reforms stand as symbols of the past and unfortunately, do not augur well for civil society and the progression of a democratic society as envisioned in the Constitution.

• Wilbert Mandinde is a human rights, constitutional lawyer and is senior projects lawyer of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum.
• Yassin Nhara is a lawyer and serves as senior researcher with the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. They write here in their personal capacities.