By Khitsepile Nyathi
Zimbabwe has suspended 29 non-governmental organisations in what has been described as a renewed clampdown on aid workers ahead of elections President Robert Mugabe wants held this year.
The veteran ruler’s Zanu PF party, at its annual conference last December, tabled a report claiming there were 2,500 NGOs operating in the country and most of them were pushing a “regime change agenda”.
“Some of these NGOs are working day and night to remove President Mugabe and Zanu PF from power,” reads part of the report. “They are being funded by Britain and some European Union countries, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.”
A governor for Masvingo province, Titus Maluleke, today said the organisations had been suspended from operating in the impoverished area because they failed to submit certain paper work to his office. The affected NGOs are mainly involved in HIV/Aids and disability issues as well as providing humanitarian assistance to starving families.
“I have no option but to immediately suspend operations of NGOs which did not comply with our calls to get registered,” Mr Maluleke said.
“We gave an October 21 deadline which we extended to December 31 last year, after realising that most NGOs had not complied, but I have noted that up to date, many still have not registered. This means that they were operating outside the confines of the law and have been suspended forthwith.”
But the move has been described as draconian by an association of NGOs, which warned that vulnerable people will be left stranded.
Sylvester Chin’anga, a regional spokesperson for the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations told a private Zimbabwean newspaper that the suspension will stop the flow of aid to vulnerable people. Daily Nation
