WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 2001, Daily Times
7
PRESS RELEASE
CIVIL SOCIETY APPEAL ON THE NGO
BILL NO.19 OF 2000
We, the undersigned members of civil society, appeal that parliamentary
debate on Bill 19 be deferred to pave way for
more consultations on the concerns we have raised. We observe that not
only do these provisions undermine the democratic principles of our constitution
but also the trust which was established between NGOs and government during
the consultative process.
As members of civil society, we would like to express our concerns regarding
the above Bill due to be debated by Parliament during its current sitting.
This Bill purportedly seeks to improve the operational environment for
non-governmental organisations (NGOs), however, it in fact contains provisions
that were not in the agreed document that was submitted to the Ministry
of Gender, Youth and Community Services in March 2000. The current version
of the Bill No. 19 of 2000, is a marked departure from the document that
was agreed after 6 years of extensive consultations among all stakeholders,
which included NGOs, some of whom are not members of CONGOMA. Some
of the areas we are concerned with are as follows.-
-
Section 20 (3) (V) of the Bill makes membership
of Congoma compulsory. However, not all NGOs are members of Congoma
and therefore forcing them to become its members undermines the principle
of the freedom of association as enshrined in section 32 of the Malawi
Constitution.
-
There is no mention in Bill 19 of fiscal incentives to create a conductive
environment for NGOs, which is a stated purpose in the Bill.
-
Part two of the Bill makes inadequate provision for procedures for transparent
and accountable decision-making by the NGO Board of Malawi, which is created
by this Bill for the purpose of registering and regulating the operations
of NGOs in Malawi. For instance, there is no provision for appeal procedures
against the Board's decision. (Section 7, 9, 20,
23)
-
Five of the nine NGO Board members will be appointed and may be removed
"anytime" by the Minister responsible for the NGO Coordinating body as
stipulated in the agreed bill. Those members will then appoint two others,
but the procedure for appointing the remaining two is not clear. (Section
9) and there is no guarantee of independence of the Board members.
-
Section 20 of the Bill introduces additional
requirements for registration of NGO's of particular concern are requirements
for approval from the responsible Ministry, membership of CONGOMA and prohibition
from "electioneering and politicking". There are no objective criteria
for defining the word "electinoneering and politicking" and
therefore, they are vulnerable to subjective interpretation.
-
Section 23 of the Bill stipulates as a reason
for suspension of registration of an NGO engaging in partisan politics,
electioneering and politicking. In the absence of objective criteria on
which this judgement will be made, the Bill introduces a subjective reason
for suspension. (Section 20)
Owing to the above observations, and others changes put forward in Bill
19, the overall effect is to undermine the objects stated in section 3
of the same Bill, which include facilitating constructive collabortion
and partnership between the Government and NGOs in furtherance of the public
interest, and affirming the human rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Signed:
Rodgers Newa,
Dated 10th January 2001
Current Chairman of the Human Rights Consultative Committee
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP)
Public Affairs Committee (PAC)
CCAP Blantyre Synod
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR)
Women's Voice
Civil Liberties Committee (CILIC)
The Development Centre
Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC)
Centre for Youth and Children's Affairs (CEYCA)
Eye of the Child
Society for the Advancement of Women (SAW)
Malawi Institute for Democratic and Economic Affairs (MIDEA)
Malawi Carer
Youth empowerment for Civil Education (YECE)
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