Ncube was responding to issues raised by the floor and Zanu (PF) MP for Hurungwe West, Temba Mliswa, that both government institutions and NGOs should make their operations transparent in the interest of minimising corruption.
Mliswa said government wanted NGOs to account for how their funds were used. He dismissed claims that NGOs and government were not good partners.
“If government did not like the NGOs, surely they would have been sent packing long ago,” he asked. “The fact that NGOs are still operating in the country confirms the good relations enjoyed with government.” According to Mliswa, since government ordered parastatals and state enterprises to be accountable, the same had to be expected of NGOs. Government is demanding that NGOs declare their funds because of suspicions that some of the resources have not been used for their intended purposes. Thabani Nyoni of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said government’s demands for CSOs to declare funds were suspicious. He said government should only set regulation frameworks that CSOs would be bound to observe and respect.