The Chairman of Zimbabwe Forum for Non-State Actors, Moses Mashoko, acknowledged prevailing animosity between them and Zanu (PF).
“It is true that we do not have good working relations with these Zanu (PF) elements. Many of them have been threatening us with unspecified actions as they think that we are aligned to the MDC-T,” he said. “NGOs should operate freely. There should be bilateral agreements between the government and NGOs and their programmes of action. It is only some Zanu (PF) elements that spoil the game.”
Mashoko was commenting on the progress that Zimbabwe has made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals on the sidelines of a media briefing held in the city last week. He said the government should appreciate the sterling work that the majority of NGOs were doing to assist vulnerable groups.
Mashoko said attainment of the MDGs was proving elusive because of unfriendly governing policies perpetrated by some “selfish and rogue Zanu (PF) elements” within the government. “We hope that there will be an amicable solution,” he said.
Mashoko added that it should be appreciated that where there was interaction, differences were bound to arise. He said his organisation was doing everything to improve relations between NGOs and the government.
“Civil society has the right to demand accountability from the government and to ensure that it fulfills its mandate of protecting the rights of the people.”
Zimbabwe is among the 189 countries that agreed to the Millennium Declaration at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000.
Post published in: News