THE PVO LAW IS A WEAPON AGAINST KINDNESS — ZIMBABWE MUST SAY NO
The fight for freedom in Zimbabwe has reached a new and painful moment. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have taken the government to the High Court over the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Act. This law is meant to manage NGOs and charities. It should protect honest work and help money reach the people. But today it is used to control, to silence, and to punish. The same state that must defend the weak now turns against those who feed, teach, and heal.
In their court papers, the lawyers say the PVO law is dangerous and must be stopped. The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and the Attorney-General are defending this bad law. The papers explain how the Act blocks human rights work. It makes it hard to register an organisation, hard to operate, and hard to receive funds for the poor. It even treats people who try to help like criminals. A nation that punishes charity is a nation turning against its own people.
This law breaks many freedoms. It attacks free speech. It attacks the freedom to meet. It attacks the right to form groups and even to own property. It gives one minister too much power to stop any organisation he chooses. There are no clear rules on how this power should be used. It is not clear. It is not fair. It is not just.
The application also says the law is badly written. It gives the Registrar of NGOs power without limits. The Registrar can approve or cancel registrations alone. Their decisions cannot even be appealed. That is not justice; that is rule by decree. The court is being asked to look at many parts that are wrong. Section 4 is vague and confusing. Section 9 gives the Registrar control without checks. The Act forces NGOs to reapply every time something changes in their operations, even small things. That is not reasonable. It wastes time and money that should go to the people.
One of the worst parts is the power of the Minister to suspend leaders of any charity and replace them with trustees of his own choice. That means the government can take over any NGO it dislikes. It kills trust. It removes independence. It destroys the good work that feeds families, protects children, and brings medicine to the sick. If this continues, we will lose the love and skill of those who give their time to serve.
The court papers also warn of a heavy cost. Every year, Zimbabwe receives millions in aid and donations to help poor and vulnerable people. If NGOs are stopped or controlled into silence, that help will stop too. The people who will suffer are the poorest among us. Empty clinics. Dry boreholes. Cold classrooms. Hungry nights. This is not theory. This is life and death.
The lawyers ask the court to strike down the parts of the law that break our Constitution: sections 4, 5, 6, 9, 13A, 14 and 21. They ask for a clear order to stop government from using them. This is not only about lawyers or charities. It is about freedom. It is about justice. It is about our right to care.
As a citizen and an activist against ZANU PF rule, I say this plainly: the PVO law is a weapon against kindness. We must say no to fear. We must say yes to help. Stand with those who serve. Defend the freedom to care. Because when charity becomes a crime, the whole nation is in danger, and the future grows dark for us all.
