An act to amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001
PL 115-231 (S.2779), enacted 08/08/2018

132 STAT. 1632 
PUBLIC LAW 115–231—AUG. 8, 2018 
Public Law 115–231 
115th Congress 
An Act 
To amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Zimbabwe Democracy and Eco-
nomic Recovery Amendment Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. RECONSTRUCTION AND REBUILDING OF ZIMBABWE. 
Section 2 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery 
Act of 2001 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note; Public Law 107–99) is amended 
by striking ‘‘and restore the rule of law’’ and inserting ‘‘restore 
the rule of law, reconstruct and rebuild Zimbabwe, and come to 
terms with the past through a process of genuine reconciliation 
that acknowledges past human rights abuses and orders inquiries 
into disappearances, including the disappearance of human rights 
activists, such as Patrick Nabanyama, Itai Dzamara, and Paul 
Chizuze’’. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Section 4(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 
Recovery Act of 2001 is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘costly deployment of 
troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo’’ and inserting 
‘‘private appropriation of public assets’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) In October 2016, the Government of Zimbabwe cleared 
a small hurdle in its longstanding public sector arrears with 
the IMF.’’. 
SEC. 4. PROVISIONS RELATED TO MULTILATERAL DEBT RELIEF AND 
OTHER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 
Section 4(b)(2) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 
Recovery Act of 2001 is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘to propose that the 
bank should undertake a review of the feasibility of restruc-
turing, rescheduling, or eliminating the sovereign debt of 
Zimbabwe held by that bank’’ and inserting ‘‘to support efforts 
to reevaluate plans to restructure, rebuild, reschedule, or elimi-
nate Zimbabwe’s sovereign debt held by that bank and provide 
an analysis based on reasonable financial options to achieve 
those goals’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘dollar’’ and inserting 
‘‘currency’’. 
22 USC 2151 
note. 
22 USC 2151 
note. 
Patrick 
Nabanyama. 
Itai Dzamara. 
Paul Chizuze. 
22 USC 2151 
note. 
22 USC 2151 
note. 
Zimbabwe 
Democracy and 
Economic 
Recovery 
Amendment Act 
of 2018. 
Aug. 8, 2018 
[S. 2779] 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
15:46 Jan 17, 2024
Jkt 079194
PO 00000
Frm 00150
Fmt 6580
Sfmt 6581
G:\STATUTES\2018\GOVINFO FILES FOR ERIC\PART 2\79194PT2.001
79194PT2
whamilton on LAP1Z6H6L3PROD with STATUTES
132 STAT. 1633 
PUBLIC LAW 115–231—AUG. 8, 2018 
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE UNITED STATES-ZIMBABWE 
BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP. 
It is the sense of Congress that the United States should 
seek to forge a stronger bilateral relationship with Zimbabwe, 
including in the areas of trade and investment, if the following 
conditions are satisfied: 
(1) The Government of Zimbabwe takes the concrete, tan-
gible steps outlined in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 
4(d) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act 
of 2001, as amended by section 6 of this Act. 
(2) The Government of Zimbabwe takes concrete, tangible 
steps towards— 
(A) good governance, including respect for the opposi-
tion, rule of law, and human rights; 
(B) economic reforms that promote growth, address 
unemployment and underdevelopment, restore livelihoods, 
ensure respect for contracts and private property rights, 
and promote significant progress toward monetary policy 
reforms, particularly with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, 
and currency exchange reforms; and 
(C) identification and recovery of stolen private and 
public assets within Zimbabwe and in other countries. 
(3) The Government of Zimbabwe holds an election that 
is widely accepted as free and fair, based on the following 
pre- and post-election criteria or conditions: 
(A) Establishment and public release, without cost, 
of a provisional and a final voter registration roll. 
(B) The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is permitted 
to entirely carry out the functions assigned to it under 
section 239 of Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution in an inde-
pendent manner, and the chairperson meets and consults 
regularly with representatives of political parties rep-
resented in the parliament of Zimbabwe and the parties 
contesting the elections. 
(C) Consistent with Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution, the 
Defence Forces of Zimbabwe— 
(i) are neither permitted to actively participate 
in campaigning for any candidate nor to intimidate 
voters; 
(ii) are required to verifiably and credibly uphold 
their constitutionally-mandated duty to respect the 
fundamental rights and freedoms of all persons and 
to be nonpartisan in character; and 
(iii) are not permitted to print, transfer, or control 
ballots or transmit the results of elections. 
(D) International observers, including observers from 
the United States, the African Union, the Southern African 
Development Community, and the European Union— 
(i) are permitted to observe the entire electoral 
process prior to, on, and following voting day, including 
by monitoring polling stations and tabulation centers; 
and 
(ii) are able to independently access and analyze 
vote tallying tabulation and the transmission and con-
tent of voting results. 
(E) Candidates are allowed access to public broad-
casting media during the election period, consistent with 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
15:46 Jan 17, 2024
Jkt 079194
PO 00000
Frm 00151
Fmt 6580
Sfmt 6581
G:\STATUTES\2018\GOVINFO FILES FOR ERIC\PART 2\79194PT2.001
79194PT2
whamilton on LAP1Z6H6L3PROD with STATUTES
132 STAT. 1634 
PUBLIC LAW 115–231—AUG. 8, 2018 
Zimbabwe’s Electoral Act and are able to campaign in 
an environment that is free from intimidation and violence. 
(F) Civil society organizations are able to freely and 
independently carry out voter and civic education and mon-
itor the entire electoral process, including by observing, 
recording, and transmitting publicly-posted or announced 
voting results at the ward, constituency, and all higher 
levels of the vote tallying process. 
(4) Laws enacted prior to the passage of Zimbabwe’s March 
2013 Constitution that are inconsistent with the new Constitu-
tion are amended, repealed, or subjected to a formal process 
for review and correction so that such laws are consistent 
with the new Constitution. 
(5) The Government of Zimbabwe— 
(A) has made significant progress on the implementa-
tion of all elements of the new Constitution; and 
(B) has demonstrated its commitment to sustain such 
efforts in achieving full implementation of the new Con-
stitution. 
(6) Traditional leaders of Zimbabwe observe section 281 
of the 2013 Constitution and are not using humanitarian assist-
ance provided by outside donor organizations or countries in 
a politicized manner to intimidate or pressure voters during 
the campaign period. 
SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 
Section 4(d) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 
Recovery Act of 2001 is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘consistent with’’ and 
all that follows through ‘‘September 1998’’; 
(2) by striking paragraph (4); and 
(3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (4). 
SEC. 7. REMOVAL OF AUTHORITY TO PAY LAND ACQUISITION COSTS. 
Section 5(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 
Recovery Act of 2001 is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘, including the payment 
of costs’’ and all that follows through ‘‘thereto; and’’ and 
inserting a semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) identify and recover stolen public assets.’’. 
SEC. 8. INCLUSION OF AUSTRALIA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE AFRI-
CAN UNION, AND THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT 
COMMUNITY IN CONSULTATIONS ABOUT ZIMBABWE. 
Section 6 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery 
Act of 2001 is amended by inserting ‘‘Australia, the United 
Kingdom, the African Union, the Southern African Development 
Community,’’ after ‘‘Canada,’’. 
SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENFORCEMENT OF SOUTHERN AFRI-
CAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY TRIBUNAL RULINGS. 
It is the sense of Congress that the Government of Zimbabwe 
and the Southern African Development Community (referred to 
in this section as ‘‘SADC’’) should enforce the SADC tribunal rulings 
issued between 2007 to 2010, including 18 disputes involving 
22 USC 2151 
note. 
22 USC 2151 
note. 
22 USC 2151 
note. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
15:46 Jan 17, 2024
Jkt 079194
PO 00000
Frm 00152
Fmt 6580
Sfmt 6581
G:\STATUTES\2018\GOVINFO FILES FOR ERIC\PART 2\79194PT2.001
79194PT2
whamilton on LAP1Z6H6L3PROD with STATUTES
132 STAT. 1635 
PUBLIC LAW 115–231—AUG. 8, 2018 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2779: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018): 
July 25, considered and passed Senate and House. 
employment, commercial, and human rights cases surrounding dis-
possessed Zimbabwean commercial farmers and agricultural compa-
nies. 
Approved August 8, 2018. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
15:46 Jan 17, 2024
Jkt 079194
PO 00000
Frm 00153
Fmt 6580
Sfmt 6580
G:\STATUTES\2018\GOVINFO FILES FOR ERIC\PART 2\79194PT2.001
79194PT2
whamilton on LAP1Z6H6L3PROD with STATUTES