Muguti has summoned all directors of NGOs and private
voluntary organisations (PVOs) to pay a courtesy call to his office, claiming
that some of them were operating outside their mandates.
Government has on several occasions threatened to
deregister civic society organisations (CSOs), accusing them of dabbling in
politics and being hostile to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his ruling Zanu
PF party.
In a circular to NGOs, CSOs, PVOs and faith-based
organisations yesterday, Muguti ordered them to submit work plans for the rest
of this year. He demanded that they provide him with information on workshops
and other operations they would be conducting within the province.
Muguti also ordered the organisations to provide monthly
reports and other information on their operations by July 9, 2021.
“It has been noted with a high degree of concern that any
organisations operating in Harare Metropolitan province, in particular NGOs,
have been straying from mandates stated in their respective memoranda of
understanding (MOUs),” Muguti said in a circular dated June 30 seen by NewsDay.
“Suffice to say that such behaviour represents a breach of
memorandum of agreement and should not be manifested further.
“In view of the foregoing, all non-governmental
organisations are hereby directed that operations and clearance of NGOs is now
domiciled with the provincial development co-ordinator. All NGO country
directors are also invited to a courtesy call with the provincial development
co-ordinator and the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution
(Oliver Chidawu) for formalities.”
He, however, did not state the constitutional provisions
that give him the power to summon the NGOs.
In 2019, High Court judge Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo ruled
that district administrators had no business in the operations of NGOs.
Several directors of local NGOs confirmed to NewsDay that
they had received Muguti’s circular yesterday, but some said they were failing
to comprehend his dictates.
“As Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd),
we interpreted the PDC’s dictates in many ways,” Zimcodd programmes manager
John Maketo said.
“We think there is a sinister agenda behind the PDC’s
demands, which is to clip the wings of NGOs that are critical to government
operations. In the first place, voluntary work cannot be conducted secretively.
“We have always been open on how we exercise our duties,
hence no need to demand openness. Also, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it is
difficult to plan ahead as there are several disruptions.”
Political analyst Fidelis Duri said Muguti’s pronouncements
risked driving away some major NGOs that were offering humanitarian assistance
to improve livelihoods, but do not want to operate in hostile countries.
He said government should name and shame those it alleged
were errant NGOs, instead of attacking all voluntary organisations.
“Government has always been suspicious of NGOs, most of
which are funded by the Western countries,” Duri said.
“It is important to credit the NGOs for the stability in
the country because they have been able to shield the government’s shortcomings
and contain civil unrest. Without them, the socio-economic turbulence resulting
from bad governance would have pushed the citizens to the edge and an
uprising.”
He said the clampdown was well-co-ordinated for the ruling
party to ensure smooth victory in the 2023 general elections in the absence of
criticism and observation of how the elections would have been run.
Government recently said it would deregister at least 450
mainly dormant NGOs.
In the State of the Nation Address delivered in October
last year, Mnangagwa announced that a law would be crafted to regulate civil
society organisations, which he accused of operating outside their mandate, and
not in sync with government priorities.
He said Parliament would consider the Private Voluntary
Organisation Amendment Bill to revamp the administration of NGOs and PVOs “to
correct the current anomalies”.
Apart from offering humanitarian assistance, NGOs offer
employment to a significant number of locals. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment