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NGOs cry foul as shutdown by govt reaches 120 days
Associate director of the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies, Mr Godber Tumushabe (left) and the executive director of the National Bureau of NGOs, Mr Stephen Okello (right).
What you need to know:
- Mr Job Kiija, from Innovations for Democratic Engagement and Action (IDEA), was also dismayed by the government’s actions.
- The government in February suspended the operations of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF), which was one of the biggest donors for NGO activities.
In August, the government indefinitely suspended operating licences of at least 54 civil society organisations deemed to be in “non-compliance” with the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Act.
While effecting the suspension, Mr Stephen Okello, the executive director of the National Bureau of NGOs, revealed in a statement that some of the organisations had expired permits. Others, he added, either did not file annual returns or audited books of account.
Four months on, some of the affected organisations have legally challenged the indefinite suspension. Others continue to operate as if nothing happened. One of such organisations is the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies.
“We don’t know why we were included on that government list since we are still open and working. The NGO Bureau doesn’t know where they start and end. For us, we really don’t consider that as an issue,” its associate director, Mr Godber Tumushabe, said at the weekend.
The government in February suspended the operations of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF), which was one of the biggest donors for NGO activities.
Mr Tumushabe revealed that “the freezing of the funds has been ongoing since 2017 when government raided our offices over the age limit debate.” He added: “The donors have been reluctant to release funds because they feel the funds can be frozen by government.”
Mr Job Kiija, from Innovations for Democratic Engagement and Action (IDEA), was also dismayed by the government’s actions.
“If you are halting someone’s activities, you write to them officially, which was not done by the NGO Bureau. We just saw the letter on social media,” he revealed, adding: “We are not sitting back and folding our arms. We have gone to court, seeking for judicial review, challenging the same actions by the NGO Bureau. The matter is coming up on February 23.”
Mr Kiija said the NGO Bureau operates “like an alpha and omega” and that it does this “illegally since there is no supervisory organ monitoring its work.”
Chapter Four, another NGO, has since August remained closed, having initially legally contested the suspension.
Last week, the case it filed in the High Court in Kampala came up before Justice Musa Ssekaana. The judge directed the parties to file written submissions and return to court on January 11 next year to set a judgment date.
Chapter Four’s case arose in October when it challenged the NGO Bureau’s decision contained in an August 18 letter on grounds of “being irrational, unreasonable, and unlawful and [thus] void.” Some of the Chapter Four activities that were affected by the government closure include research and investigations into incidents of human rights violations in the context of enforcing the control of Covid-19 pandemic rules and training of more than 60 local journalists on human rights reporting.
Last month, Cabinet adopted a report on the operations of the NGOs in the country, following a two-month validation and verification exercise of all NGOs. The validation report indicated that there were 3,810 NGOs. Of these, 2,118 have valid permits.
The report further revealed that 1,635 NGOs are indigenous while 254 are foreign.
Some of the affected NGO
1. Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO)
2. Western Ankole Civil Society Forum (WACSOF)
3. Citizens’ Concerns Africa
4. Elohim Power Transforming Africa
5. Orone Foundation
6. Light Concepts
7. Public Policy Institute
8. Otubet Youth United Development Organisation
9. Support Girl Child Uganda
10. Saints Preparation Ministries
11. Adoration Ministries
12.Islamic Da-awah and Orphanage Foundation
13. Jesus Shines Youth Ministries International
14.La Borne Missionary Centre Uganda
15. Wanyange Child Support Foundation
16.St Francis Foundation for the Poor
17. Ray of Hope International Uganda
18. Mindset Change Development Organisation
19. Liberty International Foundation
20. Foundation for Women Empowerment for Sickler Aid
21. Karambi Action for Life Improvement
22. Tech Plus Love Foundation
23. Centre for Justice Studies and Innovations
24. Chapter Four Uganda 2016- 2020
25. Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) 2019-2020
26. Femrite Uganda Women Writers’ Association 2017-2020 27.
African Humanitarian Action 2017 - 2020
