Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) a Feminist-Pan-African leadership development organization has said the Civil society organisations remains integral in the process of building the country as government suspends the operations of 54 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the country indefinitely. 

On Friday, the National Bureau for NGOs, which is under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, suspended the operations of 54 NGOs including Chapter Four Uganda an independent not-for profit non-partisan organization dedicated to the protection of civil liberties and promotion of human rights, for failing to comply with the law governing them. 

The executive director of National Bureau for NGOs, Stephen Okello, told reporters that from their investigations, the 54 NGOs were non-compliant with the NGO Act 2016. 

“The NGO Bureau has noted with great concern the increasing fraudulent activities involving some NGOs and members of the general public. There are some unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of the NGO sector to defraud their stakeholders,” OKello said. 

23 NGOs were found to be operating with expired permits contrary to section 31(1) and 32(1) of the NGO Act 2016, and 15 NGOs failed to file annual returns and audited books of accounts to the NGO Bureau contrary to section 39(2) and (3) of the NGO Act 2016 and have other non-compliance issues.” 

Okello called on the general public and all its stakeholders to take note of its decision against the affected organisations. 

He called upon their stakeholders from the National, District and Sub-County levels to help in enforcing their decisions by ensuring that these affected organisations halt their operations with immediate effect. 

The Executive Director of Chapter Four Uganda, Nicholas Opiyo, confirmed their operations have been halted. 

“The National Bureau for NGOs has notified us of the indefinite suspension of the permit of @chapterfourug for what they term failure to file returns & disclosing our sources of funding. We are working with the authorities to clarify what we believe is a misunderstanding.” 

“We’ll be writing to the National Bureau for NGOs reminding them of this & other documents filed with them & other authorities in Jan this year. Audited accounts, source of funding et al. We’ve always acted above board & repudiate any representation of unlawful conduct on our part,” Opiyo said in a tweet. 

Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) said its stands in solidarity with the 54 organisations whose operations have been halted by the National Bureau for NGOs. 

“Civil society organisations remain integral in the process of building the Uganda we need, and we look forward to once again doing this work with you Raised fist,” the organization tweeted. 

The International Commission of Jurists – Africa has also expressed concern over the indefinite suspension of human rights NGO Chapter Four Uganda by the National Bureau for NGOs. 

“We encourage the authorities to urgently resolve this situation to enable Chapter Four to commence operations again,” the Africa chapter of the worldwide network of judges and lawyers united in affirming international law and rule of law principles that advance human rights said.