Watchlist
Unstable political climate – Abductions of political and human rights activists continue, with government failing
to fully investigate these. ZPP will continue to watch out for these violations and expose them. ZPP will also
continue to monitor the environment and track all efforts to close up space for dissenting voices and infringement
of freedom of expression.
Further economic meltdown
There is a decline in the quality of socio-economic rights given the worsening economic crisis. The right to health
is already seriously impaired given the ongoing strike by Medical Doctors against a back drop of lack of equipment
and medicines for doctors to save lives. Poor service delivery is likely to fuel citizens’ discontent which could
possibly result in more demonstrations.
The water crisis in Zimbabwe is also opening doors to further human rights violations. Given the harsh economic
situation some citizens are taking advantage of the crisis and are selling community borehole water, with others
reportedly demanding sex in exchanging for water thus putting women and young girls at serious risk. Such
activities are expected to increase.
The right to education in Zimbabwe is being compromised as children continue to be chased away from school for
non-payment of school fees. This will likely continue as parents grapple with the deteriorating economic
conditions. ZPP will continue to monitor and document these cases.
Statutory Instrument 212 of 2019 imposes a civil penalty and not a criminal sanction on retailers who request
payment of local goods and services in foreign currency. The civil penalty is not a strong deterrence as service
providers continue to charge in USD. The Statutory Instrument is not serving its intended purpose as service
providers continue to request payment in foreign currency. This trend is likely to persist given the recent
pronouncement by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (National Payment Systems Directive NPS: 01/2019) banning
mobile cash in and cash out transactions as well as the cash back facility. This ban is likely to result in an acute
shortage of Zimbabwe dollars as citizens will find it extremely difficult to source cash. Given the fact that the
average Zimbabwean requires cash on a day to day basis for needs such as transport this restriction worsens the
plight of citizens. ZPP is also worried about the volley of policy statements that are applied ‘with immediate effect’
an indicator of lack of planning.