Harare(ZimEye)Non-governmental organizations in Zimbabwe have vowed to continue a boycott of government functions in protest over continuing arrests of aid workers, an official has said.

National Association of Non Governmental Organizations (NANGO) board secretary Godwin Phiri told ZimEye that a boycott of a conference convened by justice minister Patrick Chinamasa on October 28-30 was just a ‘test case’ and more boycotts would follow.

“We cannot participate in meetings with the government when our leadership is being arrested,” Phiri said.”We’ll not create the impression that everything is okay when they are arresting our leaders. Where government invites us, we’re not attending until the situation improves.”

The measure was taken following the arrest of Nango chairperson Dadirai Chikwengo and the organization’s chief executive Cephas Zinhumwe in Victoria Falls. The two were accused of holding a political meeting without police clearance, a serious offence under the much-criticized Public Order and Security Act. The pair said they spent two nights in ‘filthy’ cells. They deny the charges, pointing out that the meeting in question was the NGO directors’ summer school, an annual event

Two officials from the Zimbabwe Election Support Network were arrested two days later in Dete under the same law, while a day later United Nations rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak was detained overnight at Harare airport before being deported.

Commenting on the failure by NGOs to meet with Chinamasa, Phiri said “in an environment where the law is arbitrarily applied against NGOs it would be improper to endorse the validity of such meetings through attendance”.

Phiri said NGOs had a right to comment on policy issues and decisions and to participate in ‘political discourse’. The government has repeatedly threatened to shut down NGOs that are critical of the Robert Mugabe’s policies.(ZimEye, Zimbabwe)

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