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Resist, Reject and Report Violence, #RRRV2023
Major Highlights
On 16 December, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs,
Honourable Ziyambi, moved the third and final reading of the Private
Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill [H. B. 10A, 22] at the
National Assembly. The proposed amendment is posed to shrink civil
society organisations' operating environment with provisions that allow
unchecked interference on CSOs, their work and associated persons. The
Bill, published in November 2021, restricts and suppresses the impactful
work on advancing human rights, promoting public accountability and
good governance in Zimbabwe. The Minister of Finance and Economic
Development, Prof. Mthuli Ncube, estimated that grants would decrease
from US$776 million in 2022 to US$352.8 million in 2023, a variance of
US$423.2 million. Once signed into law, provisions in the proposed
amendment allow unrestricted powers to arrest targeted persons, freeze
funds, and deregister organisations alleged to be anti-establishment.
On 14 December, Job Sikhala's wife was found guilty of reckless driving
by Harare magistrate Evelyn Mashavakure. She was ordered to pay a
ZWL$30,000.00 fine for the offence or face a two months jail term,
submit her driver's licence in seven days and be banned from driving for
six months. Evelyn was previously arrested at a police checkpoint on 20
September for not observing road rules while going to Chikurubi
Maximum Security Prison to visit her husband, Job Sikhala. Her arrests
appear to be politically motivated. Minor offences ordinarily attract a fine.
Zengesa East Member of Parliament Honourable Job Sikhala was denied
bail at the Harare Magistrates court on Friday, 30 December 2022. He was
arrested on 14 June 2022 in connection with violent incidents in Nyatsime
following the death of a CCC party member Moreblessing Ali who was
discovered dismembered in a well. Honourable Sikhala is in detention for
more than 200 days, with the State delaying his right to a fair trial. The
continued and unjustified denial of bail violates many provisions of
Section 50 of the Constitution, among them, states that a person who has
been arrested must be released unconditionally or on reasonable
conditions pending a charge or trial unless there are compelling reasons
justifying their continued detention.
December 2022
The Zimbabwe Peace Project Monthly Monitoring Report
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