President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has accused some
non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) of meddling in the country’s internal affairs and said his government will regulate them, a newspaper said on Saturday.
NGOs, trade unions, the private media and embassies were among the ”Trojan horses” that received money from abroad ”all to be used against us” Mugabe was quoted as saying in the official Herald.
He singled out the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), a church-funded human rights group, which he said had recently fielded opposition candidates in a northern rural constituency in local elections.
”This is a gross interference in our national affairs, disguised as non-governmental work,” Mugabe told members of his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) Central Committee on Friday.
Mugabe said NGO’s were not registered to be ”hatcheries of political opposition” and said his government would tighten policies to regulate their work, the Herald added.
”They should not cry, for they have redefined the rules of engagement,” Mugabe added. A move to restrict the work of NGO’s is likely to be seen as a
further clampdown on the country’s civil society.
Mugabe views criticism of his country’s controversial land reform programme — which aims to give white-owned land to blacks — as being fuelled by the West.
His government regularly accuses NGO’s of being manipulated by Western powers, especially former colonial power Britain. – Sapa-AFP