13 July 2021
The Minister of Local Government and Public Work
Bag 7755 Causeway,
Cnr L Takawira and H Chitepo
Harare
ATTENTION Hon July Moyo
Dear Sir
RE: ORDER REGARDING OPERATIONS OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS
As the Youth Coalition, we write to you in response to letters which were widely circulated by bureaucrats in your ministry regarding the operations of NGOs across the country.
The under signed organisations are deeply concerned by the contents of the letters in which it was insinuated that all NGOs fall under the direct supervision of Provincial Development Coordinator (PDC).
Without belittling the esteemed office of the PDC we are gravely worried that the yester-year acrimonious relationship which existed between the Civil Society and the previous government might be on its way back. We stand to be guided but we view the directives as rather unilateral and misguided.
It must be noted that going by the Provincial Councils and Administrative Act, the office is non-existent and even if we might want to equate the office to that of the Provincial Administrator provided at law in the Provincial Councils and Administrators Act, the powers will be then limited to activities relating to the operations of government.
There is no legal backing that would make the PDC’s office control the operations and activities of NGOs as they are not part of and or agencies of government. Section 68 of our constitution is very clear that every person has a right to lawful administrative conduct.
We therefore call upon your office to reign in your bureaucrats before we take appropriate legal actions to protect ourselves.
Your Sincerely,
- African Regional Youth Initiative (ARYI)
- African Youth Portal (AYP)
- Community Talk
- Fraternity of Youth Trust
- Light Bearers Youth Initiative Trust
- Young Advocates for Inclusion Network (YAIN)
- Youth Alliance for Democracy (YAD)
- Youth Forum Zimbabwe (YFZ)
- Youth Initiatives for Community Development (YICD)
- Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)
Source: Youth Forum Zimbabwe
