THE Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition is deeply concerned about the passing into law of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Amendment Bill, popularly known as the “Patriot Bill”, by government.
This development reflects a worrisome escalation of the use of laws to crackdown on the fundamental rights and freedoms of Zimbabweans, particularly regarding freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.
Of major concern is that this is happening a few weeks before Zimbabwe holds a crucial national election.
Undoubtedly, this has every potential to further diminish the credibility of the entire electoral process.
It is surprising that at a time government has invited foreign observers to come and witness our electoral process, it then chooses to gag citizens from talking about the same election, including its shortcomings which are all too glaring.
The determination by observer missions or their views on our elections is informed by the experiences of Zimbabwe’s citizens and institutions, both good and bad, and it is every citizen’s right to speak as they see things, not what government wants to be said.
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Essentially, this new law is yet another threat to the ability of citizens to engage in open political discourse and to participate freely in the electoral process.
This will without doubt undermine the inclusivity and fairness of the entire electoral process and ultimately compromise the overall legitimacy of the August 23 elections.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights has already noted how the law is deliberately vague and excessively broad in its definition of liable offences; it “does not define sovereignty and national interest, which could be broadly and subjectively interpreted to criminalise the lawful conduct of those expressing their freedom of expression”.
Yet, clear and precise definitions of criminal acts are crucial for individuals to understand the boundaries of their legal liabilities.
Some of the penalties proposed by the law for deliberately injuring the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe — such as death, long imprisonment, loss of citizenship and banning of persons from electoral participation for five years — are too harsh and inappropriate for vaguely defined offences.
In addition, the provision for the death penalty means that the new law violates section 48 of the Constitution, which only allows for the death penalty in cases of murder in aggravated circumstances.
As part of its longstanding commitment, the coalition firmly opposes the death penalty without exception, irrespective of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the State’s chosen method of execution.
The death penalty is a grave violation of the right to life as enshrined in the Constitution.
Of greater concern is the law's potential to grant authorities excessive powers to curtail human rights.
It is clear that this law is just meant to curtail the rights and freedoms of those perceived to be critical of government, including political activists, human rights defenders, journalists, civil society leaders, opposition parties, and whistleblowers.
Such actions by government only cement our earlier assertions, as the coalition, that the ruling elite in Zanu PF wants to turn Zimbabwe into a one-party State and dictatorship.
Before assenting to the two laws (Patriot Bill and Labour Amendment Bill), President Emmerson Mnangagwa had on his desk six repressive laws which awaited his assent to become law — these include the Judicial Laws Amendment Bill, Prisons and Correctional Services Bill, Police Amendment Bill and the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill.
In essence, all these Bills are bringing new provisions that further curtail not only the rights and freedoms of Zimbabweans, but are generally meant to curtail and further shrink the civic and democratic space, and ensure Zimbabwe becomes a one-party State where dissent and criticism of the ruling party is outlawed.
This, however, is contrary to the promise of 1980 and an independent Zimbabwe.
This will surely be resisted by all genuinely “patriotic” Zimbabweans.
It is the duty of every Zimbabwean to defend the Constitution and clearly the passing of this “Patriot Bill” by the elite in Zanu PF is anti-development and is itself an unpatriotic act.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition strongly urges government to reconsider this Amendment Act and ensure that it upholds the principles of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
We call on the President to exercise restraint and take into account the concerns raised by civil society and human rights organisations.-Obert Masaraure, spokesperson Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
Economic stabilisation measures have brought sanity on the markets
IN recent weeks, the nation witnessed a continued pause in the depreciation of the Zimdollar against the United States dollar on both official and alternative (parallel) foreign exchange markets.
In fact, the Zimdollar is now gaining some of its lost value on both markets.
Between July 3 and 10, 2023, the Zimdollar mid-rate gained about 9,1% on the official willing-buyer willing-seller interbank market from US$1:$5 769,13 to US$1:$5 286,73 while gaining about 6,7% on parallel market from a maximum quote of US$1:$8 000 to US$1:$7 500.
The immediate impact of this development was a stabilising effect, though at high levels beyond the reach of many, on the general prices which are largely benchmarked at or above volatile parallel rates. As the Zimdollar stability continues, we expect to start witnessing some huge price drops.
Already, prices of certain products have fallen, though marginally, a trend that will likely continue as long as authorities are confined to monetary and fiscal discipline.
The sanity being experienced on the market is largely attributable to stability measures instituted by Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) in May and early June this year.
These economic stability measures have managed to mop up excess Zimdollar liquidity, which emanated from elevated quasifiscal operations by RBZ as well as spiking Treasury spending as it faces political pressures ahead of the August 23 election.
It increased Zimdollar salary component for civil servants by 100% in the first quarter, it is supporting the agricultural sector, and funding ongoing infrastructural projects, among many initiatives.
Analysing these measures on June 9, 2023, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and development (Zimcodd) concluded that: “If prudently implemented in full, these actions will go a long way in suppressing Zimdollar decline, ceteris paribus. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen if there is adequate political will to allow Treasury to thwart mounting spending pressure emanating from the upcoming harmonised elections.”
We still maintain the foregoing view that as long as authorities adhere to both monetary and fiscal discipline, durable price stability will be achieved in Zimbabwe.
This discipline must be buttressed by swift and full implementation of political, institutional, structural and economic reforms to strengthen democracy, curb public resource leakages from corruption and illicit dealings, improve natural resource governance and domestic revenue mobilisation, efficiently provide affordable and quality public services, and increase market efficiency, competition and innovation, among others.
However, we don’t expect significant reforms before a crucial election as trying to do so will face immense resistance from the State.
Also, Treasury will have to pay its contractors and suppliers of goods and services, award salary increments to civil servants, service RBZ external obligations it recently assumed, and settle forex surrender requirements at a time when exports are highly elevated.-Zimcodd