Maputo, 1 Sep (AIM) – The Inhambane provincial government in southern Mozambique has threatened to ban some NGOs, operating in the province, for supposedly hiding information about their projects from the local authorities.
According to the Maputo daily “Notícias”, citing the Inhambane provincial governor, Daniel Chapo, the authorities are already threatening not to renew the licenses granted by the state to the institutions involved, which include national and foreign NGOs.
“Some institutions had their applications rejected for failure to submit concrete reports on their work. Some NGOs are not even known by the authorities”, Chapo said at a meeting held to discussion the reports and activity plans for 2022-2023.
Chapo reminded those present that it is the obligation of any organization that intends to carry out any activity in the province to introduce itself and discuss with the government the possible areas of action and strategies for the economic and social development of the communities.
According to Chapo, all requests for renewal and extension of projects are allowed on presentation of reports on the progress of activities according to the priorities of each sector.
“The government is open to collaborate with national and foreign cooperation partners who directly or indirectly contribute to the well-being of the communities”, he said, stressing that NGOs should have a positive impact on communities, “through the construction or rehabilitation of water supply systems, classrooms, access roads, among others, and not just by holding seminars and/or training courses.”
The measure on banning NGOs hiding information comes shortly after the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, approved, in August, an amended law on Preventing and Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, which states that “donations and other financial contributions destined to non-governmental organizations must be through bank transfer in the name of the organization or through a cheque”, in order to end money laundering.
On the other hand, says the law, financial bodies found to be involved in money laundering will be fined between two and ten million meticais (from 31,000 to over 156,000 dollars).
(AIM)
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