President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called on the Zimbabwean parliament to speed up the Private Voluntary Amendment Bill as he seeks to have total control over non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
President Mnangagwa, who made the call while giving his State of the Nation Address (SONA), accused NGOs and private voluntary organisations (PVOs) of deviating from their humanitarian agenda and venturing into partisan politics.
The Bill seeks to ensure that PVOs comply with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force for combating money laundering and financing of terrorism.
Development Diaries understands that the government of Zimbabwe and NGOs have for many years been at loggerheads, with the government accusing NGOs of funding opposition political parties or promoting anti-establishment messages.
‘The conduct of some non-governmental organisations and private voluntary organisations who operate outside their mandate and out of sync with the government’s humanitarian priority programmes, remain a cause for concern’, the president said.
‘This august house will, therefore, consider the PVO Amendment Bill to revamp the administration of NGOs and PVOs and correct the current anomalies’.
Reacting to this development, Deputy Spokesperson for Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Clifford Hlatshwayo, said the proposed amendment would drive out NGOs currently feeding over eight million vulnerable Zimbabweans across the country.
‘The Bill is meant to control NGOs and to make sure that people continue suffering because it will drive away people taking care of the suffering masses whilst he [Mnangagwa] is looting all the resources for himself’, he said.
It is understood that scores of campaigners and protesters have been arrested in an expansive clampdown in the country.
In a speech to the nation on 4 August, President Mnangagwa declared that his government was facing ‘many hurdles and attacks’ and that ‘the bad apples who have attempted to divide our people and to weaken our systems will be flushed out’.
He added, ‘We will overcome attempts at destabilisation of our society by a few rogue Zimbabweans acting in league with foreign detractors’.
However, a group of NGOs condemned the government’s iron-fist approach to addressing grievances of citizens.
Source: New Zimbabwe
Photo source: Paul Kagame
