NGOs Bill: New wine in old bottles

May 14, 2006

PARLIAMENT on April 7, 2006, passed the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Registration Bill, amidst strong protest from the civil society organisations (CSOs).

PARLIAMENT on April 7, 2006, passed the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Registration Bill, amidst strong protest from the civil society organisations (CSOs). The NGOs have petitioned President Museveni not to assent to the NGO Bill arguing, among other things, that it would undermine their operations and usurp their independence and autonomy. Foreign donors, notably, European Union have also criticised the bill.
I doubt that President Museveni will heed to the call by the CSOs. Nonetheless, I believe Museveni, whose swearing-in on Friday, marked the climax of the transition to multi-party politics, will be committing a mistake to assent to this fundamentally flawed bill.
The NGO Bill tabled in Parliament in 2001 took close to five years to pass. The reason why it took Parliament such a long time was because it is very contentious and has serious political implications.
NGOs have raised valid issues. They recognise the need to have an administrative and regulatory framework within which they can carry out their activities in a responsible manner. But they are opposed to a situation where their independence and autonomy is usurped. The NGOs are particularly concerned that, under the new law, the NGO Board will be dominated by government officials, who will include security officers. NGOs are further concerned about the requirement to renew operational licence every year and are uncomfortable with the provision in the bill giving powers to the board to de-register an NGO for contravening “any law.”
The NGOs Bill, in my view, undermines pluralism and good governance. Note that the bill was tabled in 2001, long before government took a decision to open up the political space and allow multi-party politics. In essence, the bill was conceptualised in a Movement system setting. It broadly reflected the Movement thinking and is part of the Movement system legacy, where the official policy has been to control and fetter CSOs and political parties. The bill is, so to say, new wine in old bottles.
The NRM administration has since 1986 been suspicious of NGOs. The Movement system has tended to regard them as politically- disruptive, just like political parties. It is against this background that the NGOs Statute was enacted in 1989, three years after the NRM administration assumed power.
The thrust of the statute was to give government total control of CSOs. Under the statute of 1989, the NGO Board had powers to grant or refuse registration of any NGO and to revoke registration if the board deems it “in the public interest to do so.” This restrictive law has inhibited the emergence and development particularly of strong and autonomous civil society organisations critical for democracy.
With the NGO Statute in place, government has been able to effectively-control civil society organisations and prevent them from carrying out any activities considered “political.” One condition for licensing NGOs has been that they must be “non-political and non-partisan.” Some NGOs have had problems registering or renewing licences because they have been perceived to be engaging in political activities. These include Uganda Women’s Network, Uganda National NGO Forum, Uganda Human Rights and Documentation Centre, National Organisation for Civic Education and Elections Monitoring (NOCEM). It took NOCEM three years to get registered. Government has been uncomfortable with NGOs forming strong coalitions. This was the reason it had problems with the NGO Forum, an umbrella organisation for local and international non-governmental organisations.
Government must recognise that NGOs have a role to play in nurturing democracy and development. They must therefore be given the freedom to operate. The bill is in conflict with the political and social reforms government is undertaking. It is reminiscent of the defunct Movement political order.
Ends

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