Zim probes 13 NGOs
16/03/2005 12:13  - (SA)  

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Harare - Seventeen of the 30 Zimbabwean non-governmental organisations accused of misusing donor funds following a 2003 famine have accounted for the money but the 13 others are being probed, a state-run daily said on Wednesday.

Labour Minister Paul Mangwana has set up a special task force to probe the remaining 13 after the 17 met last week's deadline set by government to explain how part of the $88.7m was used, the Herald newspaper said.

The money was raised between July 2003 and October last year after the government's appeal for aid was channelled by the United Nations Development Programme.

The committee, which started its investigations on Tuesday and is expected to produce a report within the month, includes police officers from the serious fraud squad.

It will establish if the funds received in foreign exchange were handled according with the country's laws.

"Those NGOs found to be on the wrong side of the law after the release of the final report would be handed over for prosecution," Mangwana told the Herald.

The committee would also "seek to establish the ratio between operational and administrative expenses to assess whether the money received was used or managed to achieve intended objectives." the Herald said.

Mangwana announced last week that government would widen its probe into the operations of non-governmental organisations, saying they will have to submit regular audits to the state.

NGOs in Zimbabwe have been operating under the Private Voluntary Organisations law, while some were run as trust. However, a proposed bill still to be signed into law by President Robert Mugabe is likely to result in many being shut down.

"NGOs have a duty to account for their activities to government as clearly spelt out in the Private Voluntary Organisation Act and as is the case with internationally accepted principles," said Mangwana.

Officials in the NGO sector believe the probe into their operations is linked to the new controversial non-governmental organisations bill.

Government drafted the law in a bid to curb NGOs it believes are being used by hostile foreign powers as conduits for channelling funds to the country's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party.

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