NGOs must stick to their mandate

We are not lost to the immense contributions being made by Non-Governmental Organizations in Zimbabwe. Since independence, NGOs have incredibly assisted in the humanitarian field and the socio-economic development.

However, the later day NGOs that proliferated in the early 2000s, have diverted from their core mandate in pursuit of a political agenda. This is the context in which President Mugabe fired a warning shot at the rabid NGOs which caused the outcry in the newspapers. NGOs are not political parties and if they wish to be, it's better for them to renounce their humanitarian status and become full-fledged political entities.

If NGOs continue to dip into the political pool, they must not cry foul when they are confronted with a matching political force. The argument that the NGOs are helping in the democratization process of this country is mistaken. No NGO is qualified to teach Zanu PF government on democracy. It is the party, along with Zapu, which fought for the democracy the NGOs are enjoying and abusing today.

President Robert Mugabe spent his eleven precious years in the white man's jail for the crime of fighting for democracy. It's an insult to President Mugabe for those with milk on their noses like Jestina Mukoko, Phillan Zamchiya and Okay Machisa, among others, to shamelessly attempt to lecture him on democracy. It is unfortunate that these little fellas never experienced the inhuman treatment Africans were subjected to, prior to 1980.
 
Zamchiya's noise in the media about President Mugabe's statement exposes his duplicity. When he took over the reins of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, he promised that his organisation would desist from the demonic regime change agenda of the West.

"We are not the demonic regime change agenda by the West, but rather we are here to initiate working solutions that will also boost the country's economy," said Zamchiya in his inaugural speech last year. Why all of a sudden is he fighting in corner of the demonic regime change agencies? Is it that he is too weak to resist the US dollar.
The NGOs must complement government efforts in the national development agenda. Most of the NGOs in Zimbabwe take the armchair approach where they just bark criticism without proffering alternative solutions.

It's well documented that some of the NGOs operating in this country have been roped into the regime change project. History teaches us that the MDC, a party fronted by the West in the regime change project, was formed with the assistance of certain NGOs such as Amani Trust. The British Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) which is an extension of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, expended $30m to fund the formation of the MDC. They went on to fund various projects of the party.

Some NGOs are penetrating the rural areas with food aid in the right hand and the opposition ideology in the left hand. NGOs have become deep covers for the hostile forces in Zimbabwe. We have seen some of the officers working for these NGOs exhibiting political colours that look like those of known hostile forces.

So President Mugabe knows what he is saying and he is warning these NGOs from a well informed position. We cannot allow ourselves as a country to compromise because of the food handouts that we receive from the NGOs. No sane man would allow a benefactor of whatever magnitude and importance, to sleep with his wife. This is exactly what these people are forcing us to do.

The NGOs played a great role in pushing the country into this quagmire. They helped in the propagation of adverse and false information that damaged the image of the country. The West imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe basing on the false information they were fed with by the NGOs. Just last week, the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) led by Jestina Mukoko, manufactured a report in which it lied through the teeth.

In that report, Zanu PF was said to be the most violent party in the country. They also alleged that PF supporters were holding their rallies during the night for fear of being attacked by Zanu PF. Such reports are damaging and they scare away investors which subsequently lead to poverty and unemployment. In this regard, such an NGO becomes a liability to the citizens and it poses more danger than the perceived danger posed by Zanu PF.

These are the typical NGOs that President Mugabe was referring to. We know of genuine NGOs that are doing sterling job in Zimbabwe. To them, we say keep it up. It is also the duty of these bonafide NGOs to guard their field so that it is not soiled by bad apples amongst them. They must assist the authority in flushing out the rogue elements in their midst. NGO peer review mechanism is now needed.