Zimbabwe passes ‘draconian’ law banning government criticism

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Zimbabwe’s parliament has approved a controversial law that ostensibly promotes patriotism but has been denounced by the opposition as a “draconian” attempt to stifle dissent ahead of national elections.

The bill, passed by the lower house on Wednesday evening, criminalizes acts undermining the southern African country’s “sovereignty and national interest”.

In the most extreme cases, offenders risk up to 20 years in prison.

“Freedom of expression is now dead,” noted journalist and activist Hopewell Chin’ono wrote on Twitter, adding that it was “a very sad day for Zimbabwe.”

The law was approved just hours after the government, ending months of uncertainty, announced national elections for August 23.

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Analysts are bracing for a tense poll in a country where discontent over entrenched poverty, power cuts and other shortages runs deep.

Joseph Chinotimba, an MP from the ruling ZANU-PF party, told parliament the new law was aimed at encouraging Zimbabweans to be “patriotic”.

“This bill is not meant to restrict the existence of political parties, but it is there to encourage the people of Zimbabwe to love their country and stop denouncing it,” Chinotimba said.

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But opponents said it barred any criticism of the government at a time when rights groups and opposition parties are already complaining of a crackdown.

“Let history know that I was not part of this commotion and circus,” opposition MP Temba Mliswa told parliament before he was expelled.

The law will now pass the Senate.

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It will then have to be approved by President Emmerson Mnangagwa – something the director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Musa Kika, said was all but a given.

“This bill is the most draconian law we have seen in Zimbabwe,” Kika told AFP.

Mnangagwa, 80, who replaced strongman leader Robert Mugabe in 2017 after a military-led coup, is seeking a second term in August.

His main challenger is Nelson Chamisa, a 45-year-old lawyer and pastor, who leads the recently formed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party and narrowly lost to Mnangagwa in 2018.

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