The Hard Truth is that the Human Rights Defenders Coalition has finally been exposed for what it has become, a loud mouth that demands accountability from everyone else while it cannot account for itself.
For three years, HRDC has been shouting about corruption, about theft, about mismanagement in government, about fuel, about electricity, about ministers who must resign, yet when the NGO Regulatory Authority asked it for a simple thing, its own audited accounts for 2023, 2024 and 2025, it failed to produce them.
The Hard Truth is that you cannot lead a crusade for transparency when your own house is dark.
The Hard Truth is that NGORA did not wake up one morning and decide to kill HRDC.The deregistration, effective 3 November 2026, was not a personal war against Michael Kaiyatsa. It was the law taking its course. NGORA deregistered 36 NGOs, not one NGO.
Thirty-six organisations were found to have failed to comply with the Non-Governmental Organizations Act. If this was a political plot against HRDC, why were 35 other organisations also deregistered? The Hard Truth is that HRDC wants Malawians to believe it is a special victim, when in fact it was just one of 36 lawbreakers caught by the same net.
The Hard Truth is that the law is very clear. Every registered NGO must submit audited financial statements and annual returns every year. It must notify the regulator of changes to its board and governance structure. NGORA says HRDC failed on all of these for three consecutive years. It failed in 2023.
It failed in 2024. It failed in 2025. And each failure alone, according to Section 23(1)(b) of the NGO Act, is enough for deregistration.
The Hard Truth is that HRDC was not deregistered for demonstrating. It was deregistered for not filing papers.
The Hard Truth is that NGORA even gave HRDC mercy. It was given an extension to 31 July 2026 to file its returns. That is more than enough time for an organisation that claims to be the champion of good governance in Malawi. Yet even after that extension, HRDC still did not comply.
It then came with excuses that it had no funding in 2024, and that the Centre for the Development of People, CEDEP, was handling its money.
The Hard Truth is that NGORA was right to reject those excuses. Even an organisation without funding must file a return showing that it has no funding. That is what accountability means. You do not hide behind another organisation and then claim you are transparent.
The Hard Truth is that this is the greatest shame for HRDC. This is the same HRDC that wants Energy Minister Jean Mathanga to resign over fuel shortages and electricity blackouts. This is the same HRDC that has announced nationwide demonstrations on 17 November in Lilongwe, Blantyre, Zomba and Mzuzu to demand accountability.
How can you demand that Mathanga accounts for fuel when you cannot account for your own donor money for three years? How can you demand that government opens its books when your own books are closed? The Hard Truth is that HRDC has lost the moral authority to audit anyone, because it has failed its own audit.
The Hard Truth is that Kaiyatsa’s response after deregistration shows arrogance, not remorse.
Instead of apologising to Malawians and to donors who trusted HRDC with money, he said, “We should not mix issues. HRDC will continue as a civil society organisation to represent Malawians, including exercising its freedom of association and assembly. What has been deregistered is the NGO.” The Hard Truth is that you cannot mix issues when you are the one who mixed them.
You cannot take donor money as an NGO, enjoy the privileges of an NGO, use the NGO name to mobilise people, and then when you are caught breaking NGO law, suddenly say you are not an NGO but a mere civil society organisation. That is trickery. That is running away from the law.
The Hard Truth is that HRDC’s own internal war has exposed it more than NGORA ever could. Sammy Aaron and his Ad Hoc Committee have been saying for months that HRDC under Kaiyatsa has failed to hold Annual General Meetings, has failed to be accountable, has ignored its own constitution, and has refused to clarify the powers of regional committees.
For long, many Malawians thought Aaron was just jealous. Now NGORA has confirmed that indeed there are serious governance failures.
The Hard Truth is that when your own members accuse you of lack of accountability, and then the regulator also finds you guilty of lack of accountability, you cannot blame Mutharika. You must blame yourself.
The Hard Truth is that Malawians must ask a very simple question: where did HRDC’s money go?
If it had no funding in 2024 as it claims, then how was it operating? How was it paying for press conferences, for travel, for posters, for meetings? If CEDEP was handling its money, why did CEDEP not file on its behalf?
The Hard Truth is that Malawians have a right to know how much donor money HRDC received in 2023, 2024 and 2025, how it was spent, who signed for it, and who benefited. Until HRDC answers that, it has no right to ask government where fuel money went.
The Hard Truth is that this deregistration is actually good for civil society. For too long, some NGOs in Malawi have behaved as if they are above the law.
They think because they shout about human rights, they are exempt from the law. They think because they hold demonstrations, they should not file returns.
The Hard Truth is that being a human rights defender does not make you a law breaker. In fact, it makes your duty to obey the law even bigger, because you claim to be an example.
If HRDC can be deregistered for breaking the law, then every other NGO will now wake up and file its returns. That is how a country builds order.
The Hard Truth is that the planned 17 November demonstrations must now be seen in their true light. HRDC says it will still go ahead despite deregistration.
But Malawians must ask: who is organising these demonstrations? Is it a legal NGO, or is it a deregistered NGO pretending to be a civil society movement? Is it an organisation that represents Malawians, or is it an organisation fighting to save its own skin after being caught?
The Hard Truth is that a demonstration organised by an organisation that cannot account for its own money cannot be trusted to fight for accountability for fuel money.
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Email: jonesgadama@gmail.com
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