| Summary: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-81). === The study analyses the role of NGOs in rural community development in Africa, with a focus on Gwembe district in Zambia. The 1990s were a turning point in the development practices in Africa. This era saw the emergence of NGOs as a preferred mode of channeling development assistance by the donor community. NGOs were efficient, accountable, and closer to the people. They were able to make the communities own the development process. The state and its bureaucracy was vilified, demonised and condemned as incapable of service delivery to the rural poor. The study used World Vision International Zambia operations and interventions in the Gwembe District. It endeavored to assess the extent to which NGOs have lived up to the development promises of the 1990s. Key to the study was the investigation into whether the communities own the development projects. The study reviewed literature on the emergence of NGOs as important player in development in third world countries. In this review the study learned that the strengths of the NGOs was in that they were community focused, participatory, democratic, community oriented, cost effective and better at reaching the poorest. The major weaknesses of NGOs in Africa come from the fact they are dependent on donor money for their survival. They are a parasite to the poor. They do not care about the causes they champion. They produce low quality returns; they are engulfed in self-obfuscation, spin control and outright lying to justify their works. The NGOs are elite driven and do not care about the poor.
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