Parly gazettes revised PVO Bill

REVISIONS to the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill to accommodate reservations by President Mnangagwa when he exercised his constitutional right to withhold his assent on the proposed law until Parliament had reconsidered the matter have been gazetted.

The President’s concerns centred on a new need to meet international best practice to prevent charitable trusts and other organisations not normally thought of as voluntary organisations being used as a conduit for criminal and terrorist funds.

The Bill is now set to be retabled before Parliament for debate.

Legislators are now expected to consider further amendments moved by Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister July Moyo that will deal with concerns raised by the President when he withheld his consent and referred the Bill back to Parliament after the initial Bill was passed last year by both the National Assembly and Senate.

One proposed change is in Clause Two of the Bill which now provides a more detailed definition and interpretation of terms used in the principal Act.

The clause provides for the inclusion of the definition of “funds or other assets” which is very wide ranging to include all financial assets and funds or other assets of every kind.

It also amends the definition of “private voluntary organisation” to ensure it covers all relevant organisations that fall under this law, even when the coverage is confined to ensuring an entity is not being used to launder terrorist funds.

“In view of the international dimension of terrorist and proliferation financing through the abuse of charities, a definition for of Financial Intelligence Unit of the Reserve Bank is necessary because of the role the unit will play in assisting the Registrar of Private Voluntary Organisations in that regard,” reads the preamble of the Bill.