The African Charter was signed by Zimbabwe on 26 February 1986 and ratified on 30 May 1986. Article 1 requires member states to the African Charter recognise and give effect to human rights duties and freedoms in the Charter. The NGO Bill does not give effect to human rights, especially since NGOs that deal with governance issues are restricted. It is a reality that there is no way the government can realize enough funds to fully cater for governance and human rights issues. Government should therefore allow other stakeholders to come in and assist for the promotion of human rights. Article 13 (1) provides that: “ Every citizen shall have the right to participate freely in the government of his country, either directly or through freely chosen representatives in accordance with the provisions of the law”. Therefore the Charter allows people to participate in governance issues through “freely chosen representatives”. Therefore, by restricting NGOs that deal with governance issues, the Bill seeks to contravene an instrument, which it is a signatory to. Article 14 guarantees the right to property, which may only be breached in the interest of public need or in the interest of the community. In this regard, should government take over assets that belong to NGOs, then it would be going against what it set out to do. In addition the recently passed OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (Durban 2002) emphasises the role of civil society in electoral process. 3.3 SADC PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES GOVERNING DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS Zimbabwe recently signed SADC Guidelines and Principles Governing Democratic Elections which requires that SADC Member States shall adhere to the following principles amongst others in the conduct of democratic elections: ➢ Full participation of the citizens in the political process ➢ Freedom of association ➢ Political tolerance 4