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This article participates on the following special index pages:
NGO Bill - Index of Opinion and Analysis
Zanu
PF suspends constitution to fast track NGO Bill
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
November 19, 2004
On Tuesday November
the 16th, ZANU PF suspended the country’s constitution to fast track the
Non Governmental Organisations bill - Zimbabwe’s most repressive piece
of legislation since independence in 1980. The NGO bill, which is expected
to be passed into law before December 1 seeks to criminalise the promotion
and protection of human rights in Zimbabwe.
The proposed laws
are part of the tools that Robert Mugabe has used to crash the rights
and freedoms of Zimbabweans. The NGO bill is the latest and most fatal
attack on democracy and joins the class of the undertaker’s tools that
include the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA),
the Public Order and Security Act (POSA).
Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition is deeply perturbed by the continued closure of democratic space
in Zimbabwe. Mugabe’s shut down of the NGO’s complemented by the establishment
of the dependent Zimbabwe Electoral Commission asserts ZANU PF’s commitment
to the establishment of a de facto one party state. What displays Mugabe’s
hunger for power and disregard for the people’s welfare is his flagrant
disregard of the virtues of the liberation struggle and his sacrifice
of more than two million people’s welfare by closing the NGOs. NGO’s have
made immense contribution to Zimbabwe’s reconstruction and development.
Their specific roles in complementing government in times of national
disasters such as hunger and droughts, high incidences of HIV and Aids
and citizen education cannot be overemphasized.
It is the Coalition’s
view that tyranny remains tyranny whether done in the name of security,
sovereignty or power. Between the years 1983 and 1987, Mugabe killed more
than 20 000 Zimbabweans of the Ndebele tribe in the name of national security
and guarding the nation’s independence. The idea that what is good for
ZANU PF is good for the nation is patently false and inherently undemocratic.
After the 2000 loss of the constitutional referendum, Mugabe’s militia
have killed more than 200 people and displaced thousands. The closure
of the NGOs is one such assault in the name of state security. Plurality
of ideas is a fundamental gain of our independence. It must be jealously
guarded. It is this feature that qualifies Mugabe as a dictator and ruling
by the barrel of a gun rather than the will of the people.
The provisions of
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) principles and guidelines
for free and fair elections are a ray of hope to Zimbabwe’s governance
crisis. It was the Coalitions view that, ZANU PF, as the party in government
would begin to implement the dictates of the SADC protocol by repealing
unjust laws such as POSA, AIPPA and withdrawal of the NGO bill.
Even though, more
than 3,000 private voluntary organizations and trusts, including Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition, are on the line of fire, reopening of democratic
space remains a top priority. The socio-economic and political crisis
in Zimbabwe will not be solved by a one party state, but by progressive
dialogue among all Zimbabweans. A nation of enemies will remain incapable
of feeding its people adequately and addressing the economic slump, abject
poverty, record child mortality rates, mass unemployment, an unbridled
HIV/Aids pandemic and a host of other socio-economic difficulties.
Zimbabweans’ right
to choose their own leaders must be ensured and protected through the
adoption of the SADC principles and guidelines for democratic elections
as part of domestic law. Majority rule was one reason for Zimbabwe ’s
liberation struggle and as such, ZANU PF has an obligation to maintain
the gain for which many people suffered. Common sense and patriotism requires
that the extremely high premium placed on power politics be reduced to
enable the nation to seek collective solutions to national interests.
Unjust laws passed
in the middle of the night through parliament remain unjust. To legalise
a one party state remains undemocratic if done against the will of the
people. It was lawful for Hitler to kill and yet it was unjust. It could
be "lawful" for Mugabe to close NGOs and torment the spirits of the people
of Zimbabwe but it remains unjust and undemocratic.
Slurs, verbal abuse,
violence and intimidation may win arguments, but they can never reconstitute,
heal or rehabilitate societies. NGOs may be closed, elections may be rigged,
newspapers may be bombed and millions starved, but it will never kill
the people’s love for liberty.
Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition is a non-governmental organization fighting for human rights
and good governance in Zimbabwe.
Visit the Crisis in Zimbabwe
fact sheet
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