Jenni Williams is the president of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, one of thousands of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Zimbabwe.

The government has introduced a controversial bill which seeks to register and vet NGOs, while outlawing foreign-funded organisations involved in political governance and human rights issues within Zimbabwe.

"In Bulawayo we know of people who have died of starvation. Someone who is having one meal a day, as far as we are concerned, is already malnourished.

"We are very concerned at the increase in the amount of orphans we see, the amount of households that have an extra five or 10 children.

"There are now one million orphans due to Aids in Zimbabwe.

"There are large numbers of people who are leaving their jobs, who cannot get through the month because of the transport costs.

"The economy is basically in free fall, you can no longer budget every month. Up to 80% of people have no jobs.

"Over six million Zimbabweans need food aid, we need the international aid community, we need the NGOs.

Woza protest march

"To protest against the NGO bill, we marched from Bulawayo to Harare. Thirty-five of us intended to walk all the way.

"We were joined along the way by other groups of people. Then there were about 70 of us.

"We covered 440km (275 miles) in just over a week.

"[But] they finally got 52 of us.

"Just outside one small town, the police descended in full riot gear with tear gas at the ready, baton sticks, and arrested them.

"These were the first indications that the regime believed we were marching to overthrow the government.

"However, they were well aware that it was the Woza protest and that we would be handing over a petition. The women were eventually released.

"In our petition we are calling on the parliamentarians on behalf of Zimbabwe, be they [ruling party] Zanu-PF or [opposition party] MDC, to realise that we need the NGOs to be a large force in Zimbabwe at this time.

"If they pass this bill we shall surely find many people fading away and dying."
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Alexander Kanengoni, writer

Alexander Kanengoni is a Zimbabwean writer and Mugabe supporter who was allocated a farm in the controversial new land reform.

"Robert Mugabe has always been guided by his beliefs and visions.

"The rallying point for all of us who fought in the war of independence was the issue of the land.

"In the 1960s and 70s our rallying slogans were all about land. I write about land. It is from the land that we get everything, our food, our sustenance.

"The relationship between us and the land is almost spiritual actually. My father had his own land, we grow up living on and knowing the land.

"I believe that this relationship is so strong that to try to break it is almost like trying to kill one part of a people.

"When you look at the details [of the land reform] there are a lot of problems. For example, such a radical change could not be implemented over such a short time.

"Unfortunately there were no adequate resources, the people were not trained, and poor rainfall patterns compounded the situation.

"I would certainly not call myself a farmer yet. I am new to the job and have lots to learn, but I work together with a white farmer who is very experienced. He is an amazing man.

"My first crop was about eight hectares of sugar beet. He came with his truck and tilled the land for me and planted the beet for me. This year we are having good harvests.

"Some of the things that are said about [hunger and starvation] are exaggerations of the truth."

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Beatrice Mtetwa, human rights lawyer

Beatrice Mtetwa is a fearless campaigner who has defended some high-profile cases in Zimbabwe.

She has spoken out on controversial legislation such as the Public Order and Security Act and the proposed NGO (non-governmental organisation) Bill, which has attracted criticism from around the world.

"The NGO bill means basically civil society as we know it will simply not be there.

"There would be nobody to record the excesses of government, there will be nobody to help your ordinary person in the street understand their rights. There will be nobody to feed the poor, there will be no other voice other than the government's voice and this includes churches.

"So the bill is basically seen as closing the democratic spaces, the same as shutting down newspapers, the same as making sure that only one voice is heard.

'Selective application'

"Every normal human being has an obligation to stand up and fight that bill because it has far more serious implications, especially for the poor.

"The poor in Zimbabwe depend entirely on food aid from the NGOs and if you stop that, as the government has done, you are killing innocent poor people whose day-to-day living is about worrying about where their next meal is coming from.

"[The laws] are only applied to persons who are deemed to be against the government or opposition members of parliament. So there is selective application of the law.

"If, for example, ruling Zanu-PF Party youths decide to go on a march, the police will escort them to wherever they want to go and make sure they get to do what they want to do. That would not happen to those persons who are seen to be government opponents. That is selective application."

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George Shire, academic

George Shire is a London-based Zimbabwean academic who is close to Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF Party.

As Crossing Continents was refused government interviews or statements, the programme spoke to George Shire and found he was very supportive of the NGO (non-governmental organisation) bill.

"The bill the government is introducing is not going to throw NGOs out.

"This bill establishes the relationship between NGOs and the state. Now, if the function of NGOs is to assist people, then they will be able to continue to do so.

"They are not being excluded from working because they receive foreign funding, they will only be excluded from Zimbabwe if they work outside their remit.

"So the key word is 'assist'. NGOs must come clean and say why it is that they want to move away from their duty to assist into this very problematic realm of intervention.

"The argument I am using is this: You have to go back to those keywords - assistance or intervention.

"NGOs must assist, not intervene in the working of a country. It is not the function of non-governmental organisations to intervene in the working of a country where they are only accountable to their funders and not to the people."

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Roy Bennett, imprisoned MP of the opposition MDC party

On 4 November, Roy Bennett, a prominent landowner and MDC MP, was sentenced to one year in jail and hard labour for contempt of parliament, after he pushed the justice minister to the ground.

Here he is speaking before his arrest to SW Radio Africa, a Zimbabwean radio station based in London:

"The first thing I would like to do is say that what happened is regrettable.

"Unfortunately, for three years now, I, in my personal capacity, and those loved ones near and dear to me have suffered at the hands of this regime.

"It was very unfortunate what happened in parliament, but the speaker should have stopped the abuse thrown at me, a diatribe of the most racial and personal insults.

"That is coupled with all the events that have taken place over the last three years. I am a human being, I have got blood running through my veins. I saw red, I said [to the minister]: 'You have gone too far,' and I pushed him, and he fell over. No-one was kicked. No fists were thrown, it was two pushes.

"The whole of parliament was a witness.

"But I honestly believe that we are at the end of the road now, the people have had enough of the totalitarian rule of Robert Mugabe and [his party] Zanu PF and they will speak out and I am absolutely proud to be one of those people who have stood by democracy and justice for the people of Zimbabwe."