The Matabeleland North chapter of Zapu has accused the Nkayi Rural District Council (NRDC) of closing down a registered home-based care organisation, Ginyinhlupho, run by a volunteer non-governmental organisation (NGO) looking after elderly people because its director has links with Zapu.
NRDC chief executive officer Zimbabwe Ndlovu has, however, dismissed the claims as untrue.
In a Press statement Zapu spokesperson Methuseli Moyo confirmed the director of the NGO, Sithabile Nyathi, was chairperson of Zimbabwe African Women’s Union (Zawu) in the province.
Moyo alleged the CEO, Ndlovu, wrote to the NGO ordering them to immediately cease operations as a result of political pressure and not out of any genuine concern.
“Ginyinhlupho is a victim of a double-pronged conspiracy from the MDC-T-dominated council on one hand and Zanu PF on the other, who both realise that Nkayi is going to Zapu and are using all manner of dirty tricks to prevent the inevitable.
“It is clear to us that the treatment of Nyathi and Ginyinhlupho by NRDC is yet another blatant demonstration that MDC-T and Zanu PF are cut from the same cloth,” Zapu claimed in a statement.
“They think that power is about harassing the next person, instead of assisting them to achieve betterment. Nkayi councillors, through their decision, have thought it better to cause more suffering to hundreds of ailing elderly people in the district, all in an effort to protect their ailing political careers.
“Zapu takes this opportunity to reiterate our position that MDC-T is another Zanu PF and Morgan Tsvangirai is a younger Robert Mugabe,” he said. Ndlovu, however, said: “There is nothing political at all. It’s purely an issue to do with the administration of the NGO.
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“What happened is that Ginyinhlupho was an organisation registered in our district as a PVO (private voluntary organisation) and their mandate was to provide basic care to the elderly people in the rural areas, organise fundraising for elderly people and organise decent burials for the elderly.
“Some of the requirements, so that they comply with the Act under which they are registered, include that they have to submit audited financial reports.
According to section 9 sub-section 8 of the Act they may be de-registered if they don’t,” he said. Ndlovu said the NGO had not yet been de-registered, but it had to put its house in order.
“Their registration is still on. They were no longer involved in their mandate as per their registration, but were now looking after children. In terms of the management structure, they failed to produce audited reports and the general feeling is that their management performance was no longer satisfactory. They were asked to cease operating until they put their house in order,” he said.
