Council of Churches in Zambia has charged that Statutory Instrument 103 requiring NGOs and Churches to pay duty on imported equipment is negatively affecting charity work in Zambia.
In an interview, Reverend Matale said attempts to engage the Ministry of Finance over pleas to have the statutory instrument suspended or revoked have not been successful.
“You know this SI has really affected our work. We have tried to meet the meet the Minister of Finance but we have not been successful. We have written two letters requesting to meet the Minister so that we could engage him over this issue but it has been difficult,” Reverend Matale said.
She added, “From the two letters we have written, there has not been any response. When we called the Ministry, we were referred to a junior officer whom we know does not make any decisions.”
Reverend Matale observed that 40 percent of health and education services especially in the rural areas are provided by the Church and some NGOs.
She said it is important that the Church and NGOs providing charity work are provided some relief in the running of their programmes.
The govt should not allow these so called NGO to get without paying duties. These NGOs are thieves just enriching themselves with Donor Money. They do nothing for the people. Apart from the Catholic church , SEVENTH DAY and Anlican Church the rest are thieves !
The NGOs have used the privileges they have to buy personal/friends/family items/equipment from outside to avoid tax/duty. This is stealing from the Government. Let them pay duty whether what they are bring into the country is for charity purposes or for personal use.
Ths is bad for the people…….!!! Why behaving like tht? Let the Churches operate without RESTRICTIONS.
I hope Government can continue charging them duty. Why should we be financing and enriching these stup!d NGO’s whilst being charged for importing a simple Machine.
Just Look at the kind of rides the b@stards are driving, they are so greedy! They are fcuking no different from our stup!d politicians.
That’s not going to work Reverend, it’s time to GIVE Caesar what belongs to him!
My people are destroyed due to their ignorance. Yesterday I was talking to a donor who is trying to send scientific equipment to a private university in Zambia. These are expensive items not easily obtainable in Zambia. He stated categorically that if the equipment are subject to duty, then the donation will not be forthcoming. He cited similar cases where donors in Germany, U.S.A. and elsewhere have been turned-off by the duty requirement.
The fact is, it is not these donors we are punishing. We are punishing our own people, students, patients etc., who would benefit from the use of the donated equipment in Zambia. Great economies around the world recognize the useful contribution of Charitable and Not For Profit Organizations to their societies, by not taxing them.
@mei. No truth in you posting.Medical equipments you are refering to do not atract tax. Let NGO just pay tax.
@Kant Never: I am not sure I understand what you mean by: “No truth in you posting”? Please note that the donor was merely raising a concern based on a prior negative experience in Kenya. Secondly, you seem to have missed another point of mine. It is not “Medical equipment” that is involved in the proposed donation. My posting above is talking about “scientific equipment.” As to your: “Let NGO just pay tax” I would encourage you to see my responses to Pafwenamwine and Kasusula below.
Mei Matungu, if the company you contacted was genuine wanting to help and has asked the Unza about this gift I can’t see the govt refusing. I personally got to say the insinuation by Matale is unfounded. There is no grain of truth in any of the so called NGOs. They are too greed, motivated by greediness and to enrich them using the less able to speak for themselves, marginalised, the poor and vulnerable. Matale is among these people who have for a long time abused this rare opportunity that million cry for it. Govt please make them pay. These people claim the car / machine is for NGOs 2 weeks later it’s personal use. The churches and NGOs that serve the above people with dignity, respect and compassion have no worries as the govt is aware of good works for humanity and should worry.
I am aware of the greed among so called NGOs and it is distasteful. Zambia is a small country. NGOs or any charity that abuses the system must be made to suffer the consequences, by say nullifying its tax-exempt status.
The donor I made reference to above is keenly aware of the challenge of finding scientific equipment in Zambia. Such equipment anywhere in the world is never cheap. It is not the interest of the donor to send used, dysfunctional or obsolete equipment.
The donor’s concern is that, if and when ideal equipment is shipped, the consignment may fail to clear customs because of duty related complications. Reminiscent of one such experience in Kenya involving a Germany donor recently, this donor’s fear is not unfounded.
@Mei Matungu, what are the regulations about donated stuff to those countries you have cited? Would be nice to know. Another dilemma I note is how dumping has been done in the name of donating to ‘needy’ communities. Already the church is exempt from tax. What else do they really want!? A free ticket to everywhere? There has to be a category of tax that NGOs should be subject to at a minimum. This non.sense of tax-free incentives for so-called NGOs must be discouraged.
@Kasusula: Reading in-between lines, I must say, I agree with your view. I over-saw a multi-million dollar project in Chipata once, which was funded by USAID. The NGO involved was very creative. It opted to send the donation in kind, through used and obsolete hospital equipment which had been junked by U.S. hospitals.
USAID auditors never got to see the finished project in Chipata. Instead, the NGO in question sent it’s own auditors who cooked the books and flew with the supposedly audited report to Nairobi, Kenya, where they handed it to the USAID auditors. That alone, ought to have been a red flag.
That said, the government that grants a tax-exempt status to an NGO ought not deny itself a supervisory and oversight role to crack at such abuses.
“..I over-saw ..” in my response above is misleading. I ought to have said: “I was privy to..”. Thanks for understanding.
Personally I think that paying taxes is a national duty. Without taxation, then there is no development, no peace and no nationhood. However, for any charity organization to seek redress, first the tax law must be obeyed and implemented. It is possible that certain items may in the end achieve exemption or exoneration from taxes but asking a total exemption in advance is tantamount to government employing the charities or transforming charities into government departments. That would be disastrous because by definition charities choose map out their own agenda without government interference. That would defeat the whole purpose or essence of charities.
Most of born again churches were importing expensive cars for their personal use. I cannot see how a Hammer vehicle will help the rural people. Tax exemption should be done on case by case basis .
You have a point.
Rev Matale should also speak out against those NGOs / Churches whose preoccupation have been to enrich themselves. What these corrupt people hiding behind NGOs and church stealing from the vulnerable, poor and the voiceless is beyond anyone’s understanding. The Catholic, UCZ and Seventh Day have no complaint as the govt is aware of their excellent works in uplifting the lives of people and the govt has listened to them. The NGOs do not want the govt to know how the operate or who is finding them and who is benefiting. To criminal with narrow interests towards the people they want to serve. Govt tax them and make sure there is good recording keeping
Ironically, the Minister (who cannot meet the Churches) would write to the President abt the $600m TAX Rebate for Mines! The good & genuine Charities esp in places where gvt or mine facilities like hospitals are non existent have suffered greatly since the implementation INS 103 . This is irresponsible on the part of GRZ. If the issue is the dubious evading of Taxes by some organization the Ministry of Finance should claim the blame for not having a system to check and authenticate any such tax claims. This does not justify a categorical Slap of Ins 103 on all. It shows the Lazy and irresponsible side of the Ministry and the whole Government (not forgetting the corruption). By the way, the ministry could save a lot of tax money if the ministers didn’t travel all over so aimlessly!!