TWENTY four Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Livingstone yesterday petitioned the Government to immediately halt the implementation of the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Act until all contentious issues regarding the Act are addressed.
Among the notable groups that presented the petition to the Livingstone District Community Development Office included the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), Widows Association of Zambia, Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), ZINGO South, and Civil Society for poverty reduction (CSPR).
Others were Livingstone Civil Society Organisation Forum (LICSOF), Environment Africa, NZP+, Caritas Zambia, National Empowerment Forum and the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP).
Presenting a petition signed by 24 CSOs in the tourist capital yesterday, NGOCC Southern and western province coordinator Faith Simukoko said the CSOs had decided to petition Government over the NGO Act in the best interest of all Zambians.
Ms Simukoko said after thoroughly studying the NGO Act No 16 of 2009, the CSOs that met in Livingstone last week unanimously agreed not to register under the new NGO Act because they were already registered under the Registrar of Societies.
She said the registration of CSOs under the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child health would be problematic as they would allow for serious government interference.
“The NGO registration Board’s power to approve the area of work for NGOs, allowing the government to determine and control their thematic and geographic areas of work and to restrict civil society in the exercise of its watchdog function over the public sector is one of the things that we feel needs to be addressed,” Ms Simukoko said.
Ms Simukoko said with regard to the combination of unclear provisions and scope of application on the other hand including severe criminal sanctions in case violations of the Act, the Act had the potential to deter individuals from engaging in NGO activities.
“The NGO Act is in violation of the human rights to freedom of association and to freedom of expression, including the right to receive and impart information, which are both guaranteed in the constitution of Zambia and international legal obligations of Zambia,” Ms Simukoko said.
Ms Simukoko said it was in view of this that the CSO’s in Livingstone had agreed to ignore the deadline of February 3rd, 2014 as a last day to register their organizations under the new Act because they considered themselves already legally registered under the registrar of societies.
And receiving the petition, Livingstone District Social Welfare officer Modern Simabenga said their role at the district office was simply to receive the petition and forward it to the provincial office.
“As a district office, our role is very simple because we can just receive your petition and send it to the provincial office for consideration,” Mr Simabenga said.
