On 17 October, Zimbabwe’s parliament passed a piece of legislation, which analysts say will significantly restrict the ability of civil society organisations (CSOs) to operate freely. The Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill 2024 amends the regulations governing CSOs. Its stated aims include countering money laundering and the financing of terrorism and preventing ‘the abuse of charitable giving for political or socially undesirable ends’. In vague and broad terms, it grants the executive extensive powers to monitor and intervene in the running of CSOs, including replacing an organisation’s executive committee. It also criminalises CSOs who engage in political activism, with offenders liable to a heavy fine or a prison sentence. An earlier version of the Bill was passed by parliament in 2023 but was returned by President Emmerson Mnangagwa for reconsideration amidst strong opposition and lapsed at the end of the previous parliamentary term.

Sources:  The Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill HB 2A, 2024, Veritas Zimbabwe (1), Veritas Zimbabwe (2), New Zimbabwe, United Nations

More than 160 people were arrested and dozens beaten in a crackdown by Zimbabwean police that began in mid-June and continued into July. Those targeted included members of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), union leaders, students and journalists. While many were released without charge, by early August, 75 of the 78 CCC members arrested on 16 June remained arbitrarily detained, according to rights groups Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Lawyers for three arrested activists alleged that their clients had been severely tortured during their detention. In late June, Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa had issued a warning against ‘opposition political parties bent on peddling falsehoods and instigating acts of civil disorder, especially before, during and after regional and world state events’ – a reference to the Southern African Development Community summit scheduled to be held in Harare on 17 August.      

Sources: Human Rights Watch, ZimLive, University World News, Reuters, International Federation for Human Rights, The Herald

On 16 July, President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched community hearings in which survivors of the historical ‘Gukurahundi’ atrocities are to give accounts and provide evidence. The atrocities included large-scale massacres, rapes, torture and disappearances, and were perpetrated by a unit of the Zimbabwean army between 1983 and 1987, mostly against the country’s Ndebele-speaking communities. Gukurahundi, meaning ‘the rain that washes away the chaff’ in Shona, was the codename of the operation under which the atrocities were committed. The hearings are to begin in August and will be led by local chiefs. They are intended to address the legacy of the Gukurahundi, which has left lingering ethnic tensions. Previous public hearings have stalled and some survivors have expressed doubts about the current programme, citing Mnangagwa’s proximity to the atrocities, as he was Minister of State for National Security at the time. The President has repeatedly denied allegations of involvement.

Sources: Al Jazeera, British Broadcasting Corporation, President of Zimbabwe, Heal Zimbabwe Trust, The Sunday Mail, The Herald 

In the three months following the August 2023 general election, 27 of the members of the National Assembly (as well as 14 Senators and a number of local councillors) from the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) were fraudulently recalled, triggering by-elections for those seats. The High Court in Harare ruled in December that the recalled members of parliament could not contest the by-elections as CCC candidates, essentially shutting the party out of several of the constituencies. The second set of by-elections was held on 3 February. In these elections, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) won all six seats, giving the party a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. The CCC’s founding leader, Nelson Chamisa, had already quit the party on 25 January, and the party has weakened further as other politicians have left the party since the by-elections.

Sources: eNews Channel Africa, Africa News (1), The Herald, Africa News (2), All Africa

The chaos within Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), deepened in November as Sengezo Tshabangu, a man purporting to be the party’s Secretary-General, submitted letters recalling a further 13 MPs and five Senators, whose seats were then declared vacant by the parliamentary Speaker and the President of the Senate on 14 November. In October, he recalled 14 MPs and nine senators. The High Court has also ruled that no further CCC MPs can be recalled until Tshabangu’s authority to issue the recalls has been determined. Separately, a legal application for reinstatement made by the first group of recalled parliamentarians (those recalled in October) was dismissed, meaning that by-elections to fill their seats will take place on 9 December. The recalls have been criticised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which also raised concerns about physical attacks on opposition legislators by state actors – a trend that has intensified in the lead up to the December by-elections.              

Sources: Africa Confidential, International IDEA, Veritas, The Zimbabwe Mail (1), The Zimbabwe Mail (2), The Zimbabwe Mail (3),  Inter-Parliamentary Union, The Africa Report