Uganda’s Parliament is at a critical stage as it starts considering the Defense and Internal Affairs Committee’s report on the Non-Governmental Organisations Bill, 2015.
MPs face a daunting task to or not to pass the Bill
Will they seize this watershed moment and set a major legacy in the protection of civic space and the fundamental association and expression freedoms? Or will they coldly look away from an obligation they swore to uphold and protect?
In October 2010, the Cabinet approved the National NGO Policy raising a number of serious concerns. In an effort to amend or repeal the regressive NGO Registration Act Cap 113, consultations and benchmarking commenced in January 2011.
This process gave birth to the current NGO Bill 2015 that was published in the Uganda Gazette on 10th April 2015 with an object of repealing the NGO Act Cap. 113. On 13th May 2015, the Bill was tabled in Parliament and forwarded to the Committee for consideration.
After several consultations and review of written memoranda as submitted to the Committee by stakeholders and members of the public, the Committee has now published its report. A quick review of the report reveals major proposals of amendments on the current Bill.
From the several Committee proceedings I attended, it was apparent that the members honestly believe these amendments are justified and should be adopted by the House.
However, I have no doubt; the Minister of Internal Affairs will passionately clutch on anything to fight the report on the floor of Parliament. The several myths about the NGO sector always provide a fertile ground and these need to be detonated to pave way for rational debate.
But the big question the minister, the NGO Board, and other proponents of the Bill ought to ask themselves is why such drastic amendment proposals by the Parliamentary Committee composed of over 20 members?
I frankly find it very difficult to comprehend the sense in government trying to crush the NGO sector. Not only does the sector exist in exercise of fundamental, inherent human freedoms, but it also employs an estimate of 500,000 economically active Ugandans.
The sector further provides voluntary, philanthropic, complementary and other support services that immensely support all government sectors; and in the end, overall credit is often extended to the government for providing an ‘enabling’ environment.
Why then would government enjoy pummelling a sector that more than often, complements government’s efforts?
The reasons often fronted by the state to justify attempts to control of the NGO sector are unfounded. Any concerns with the sector can be amply addressed without requiring passing of regressive laws and policies.
Danny Sriskandarajah, the Secretary General of CIVICUS outlines the top three of these reasons as follows;“we (government) need to prevent political opposition from using CSOs as fronts instead of contesting party politics”;
“We (government) cannot be held to account by a small number of professionalised CSOs with vested interests when our ultimate accountability is to those who elected us”; or
“we (government) have a plan for the development of our nation and (unpatriotic) critics in civil society are undermining our ability to deliver prosperity/security/cohesion”.
It is never really about service or protection of its people. Its more about strengthening grip on power and fighting back against any critical review of the state’s democratic or human rights records.
The Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs has made several progressive amendment proposals to the NGO Bill. With this Committee report, Parliament is presented with a rare opportunity to set a standard within the region and the continent on protection of civic space.
What other Members of Parliament now have to do is seize this moment, adopt these amendments, and seek to introduce other progressive amendments to tackle other troubling clauses of the Bill such as dual liability and criminal sanctions for administrative violations in defence of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights to freedom of association and expression.
[related_posts]If the amendments are not adopted, passing the current form of the NGO Bill, “would extinguish the very character of non-governmental organisations and make them puppets of the state. It unjustifiably restricts the space for civic engagement, civic association [and] civic participation in governance and in service delivery.” – Nicholas Opiyo.
This article was written and published by Masake Anthony of CHAPTER FOUR UGANDA
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