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Opinion on suspension of NGOs
T. H Muzondo
July 03, 2008

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There seems to be some confusion about the prevailing situation in Zimbabwe regarding NGO activities. On 4th June 2008, the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare wrote a letter purporting to suspend field activities of all NGO operating in the country until further notice.

The herald and chronicle of 7th June reported the Deputy Minister of Information as having said that the government had suspended the licenses of all NGOs and asked them to reapply for re-registration.

Its hoped that this paper will explain the powers that can be exercised over registered NGOs.

It must be said that this is not the first time that such statements/directives have been made by the government. 0n 13 September 2002 the government issued a public notice advising NGOs to register as per section 6 of the PVO Act. The notice warned that those NGOs that continued to operate without being registered risked prosecution. During the 2007 independence celebrations the Minister of information informed a group of ZANU PF party members that the government was to cancel the licenses of all Non Governmental Organizations and reregister only those who were not advocating for regime change. Within a week the state gazetted new guidelines that sought to regulate the operations of local and international NGOs.

State and civil society relations in Zimbabwe have generally been characterized by mistrust and intolerance. The government alleges that NGOs are engaged in political activities rather than the work they are registered to do. President Robert Mugabe has commented that NGOs are hatcheries of political opposition . . . The moment they seek Governmental power and office as has happened in Binga, we begin to view them differently as political opponents. And political opponents are dealt with politically. ..They should not cry, for they have redefined the rules of engagement.

On one occasion when the president was addressing parliament, he indicated that 'NGOs must be instruments for the betterment of the country and not against it. We cannot allow them to be conduits of foreign interference in our national efforts.-

The Minister responsible was also quoted in the media as saying Some NGOs and churches are causing too much confusion in the country because they are converting their humanitarian programmes into politics . . . The government cannot allow that to happen so we are saying they should go under scrutiny where we revise all modalities in the country.

The state-s hostility towards civil society continued to increase. Speaking at the inaugural session of the human rights council in Geneva 2006, the Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa said that Zimbabwean NGOs operating in the human rights and governance areas are set up and financed by developed countries as instruments of their foreign policy . . . their objectives include destabilization and interference with . . . our political processes, creating and sustaining opposition groups . . . and promoting disaffection and hostility amongst the local people against their popularly elected government.

The government-s position on NGOs is thus not new. It is against the backdrop of such sentiments expressed as the government-s view and policy on civil society that we seek to examine the position relating to the cancelation and/or suspension of NGOs.

In light of these often repeated threats to shut down/suspend NGOs, it is important to provide a brief explanation on the freedom of association and the laws governing the suspension and/or closure of NGOs operating in Zimbabwe. This paper applies specifically to local NGOs rather than to international NGOs which operate in terms of memorandums with the government which set out their terms.

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