Harare — ABOUT 10 000 people employed in the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector risk losing their jobs if President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF forges ahead with a proposed law that seeks to restrict operations of the civic society groupings.

Officials in the NGO sector, a number of which are understood to be winding down their operations, confided to this newspaper that reality had finally sunk in that President Mugabe was serious about crippling many organisations deemed sympathetic to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

They said a survey had shown that 10 000 people employed by NGOs dealing with governance issues such as voter education and other democracy matters would be thrown into the streets if President Mugabe acceded to the proposed Bill.

Investigations also reveal that financial support from international donors was slowly drying up for Zimbabwe-based NGOs, with uncertainty high over the new law proposed by the government to monitor the operations of civic society.

A number of NGOs have indicated intentions to relocate to South Africa and Botswana, where laws governing NGOs are said to be less harsh than the proposed legislation.

"We have done an impact assessment. One clear thing is that about 10 000 employees will be out of a job if the draft is passed into law in its current form," said an expert who works for a South African-based NGO in Harare.

"Some NGOs have started working out packages for employees as they prepare to wind up operations in Zimbabwe. Others have indicated they will move elsewhere in SADC (the Southern African Development Community) where the spirit of the Mauritius protocol exists. It will be a great blow for democratic forces in Zimbabwe," she added.

It also emerged that the NGO sector in Zimbabwe has solicited moral support from the diplomatic and international community, among them the local representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in desperate attempts to thwart the Bill.

Sources said the United Nations had studied the draft Bill and the local UNDP officials had been informed of the UN's views on the proposed law.

Victor Angelo, the local UNDP representative, could not be reached for comment.

"He (Angelo) has had discussions with the local NGOs and has sent a copy of the draft to the UN," said another NGO employee.

Meanwhile the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), the civic political pressure group lobbying for a new constitution in Zimbabwe, is continuing with its series of daily demonstrations outside Parliament against the draft law.

NCA insiders told The Financial Gazette that the pressure group had resolved to keep pressure on the government to entice parliamentarians from ZANU PF to join forces with those from the MDC in opposing the proposed Bill when it comes to the House anytime from next week.

They said the demonstrations outside Parliament, which started on Monday this week with about 100 protesters showing up at lunch time, would proceed without police clearance as civic pressure groups attempt to stop the Bill being passed into law.

The ruling party is two seats short of a parliamentary majority that would allow it to tamper with the country's constitution.

ZANU PF has 68 seats and the MDC has 51, while ZANU Ndonga has a single seat. The governing party has been accused of closing political space for the MDC ahead of next year's general election so that it can regain the two-thirds parliamentary majority that it lost in in 2000.

The NGO Bill, expected to sail through Parliament when business resumes next Tuesday after a month-long recess, proposes to outlaw NGOs dealing with governance issues and voter education, as well as to ban funds from foreign donors.

It also proposes the setting up of an NGO Council, which the NCA and other government critics say would provide a platform for the state to monitor and control activity in the sector.