CIVIC society organisations (CSOs) yesterday said they were unfazed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s threats to deregister them over allegations that they are pursuing a regime change agenda.
On Wednesday, while addressing a Zanu PF politburo meeting,
Mnangagwa issued a stern warning to non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
accusing them of meddling in the country’s politics.
He said his government would not hesitate to deregister
NGOs threatening the sovereignty of the country.
Information ministry secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana took to
Twitter to say: “As the election season unfolds, we are observing a notable
number of NGOs diverting from their operational mandates to delve into
political matters, that amounts to interference in the internal affairs of our
sovereign country.”
But yesterday, the NGOs said they were unmoved by
Mnangagwa’s threats and would continue to discharge their duties without fear.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesperson Marvellous
Khumalo said CSOs would remain guided by the laws of the country.
“What we will do as CSOs is that we will be guided by the
laws of the country,” Khumalo said.
“You would recall that we wrote to Harare provincial
development co-ordinator Tafadzwa Muguti requesting that he furnishes us with
the pieces of legislation that support his directives because as CSOs, we will
be comfortable to do things that are within the confines of the law.
“We don’t want to go outside the provisions of the
Constitution and other pieces of legislation.”
He added: “We are not taking it as tough times ahead so
far. What these people are saying at this point in time are just threats. We
are not inviting sideshows as of now because politicians will always try to
possibly distract us from our mandate and scope of work. We will not be drawn
in.”
Khumalo said while NGOs appreciated that the statement by
Mnangagwa was made while addressing a Zanu PF politburo meeting, they were also
a live to the fact that the politburo was not a government structure.
“We wait for further engagements through normal government
procedures and we are not worried with what political parties say behind closed
doors. We will be guided by the law,” he said.
Political analyst Ashton Bumhira said: “The only way out of this situation is
national dialogue to resolve the political and economic crisis affecting the
country.
“In Zimbabwe, the social contract is broken and the current
government is seeing shadows and is very paranoid. Government is suffering from
a deficit of legitimacy from the 2018 disputed elections and from failing to
deliver on electoral processes.”
Heal Zimbabwe Trust programmes manager Edknowledge
Mandikwaza said NGOs were a critical development partner that complemented
government, hence restricting their operations destroyed creativity in
addressing the socio-economic challenges facing the country.
“Instead of restricting the civic space, government must
appreciate that most social services that it can’t provide are being provided
by CSOs that it is intending to criminalise,” Mandikwaza said.
Threats against NGOs started last month when Mnangagwa’s spokesperson
George Charamba blasted the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Young Lawyers
Association and Law Society of Zimbabwe for launching court challenges against
constitutional amendments. Newsday
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