The Zambia Council for Social Development is disappointed with the poor turnout of Non-governmental Organisations at the consultative meeting on the repeal and replacement of the NGO Act of 2009 held in Lusaka recently.
ZCSD Executive Director Nicholas Bwalya says the poor turnout of Lusaka based NGOs is worrying because the process of repealing and replacing the disputed NGO Act of 2009 is an opportunity that NGOs should not miss.
Mr Bwalya says as an organisation that coordinates NGOs, ZCSD believes that government has extended an olive branch by accepting to repeal and replace the NGO Act of 2009 and NGOs should take advantage of the process by inputting in the new NGO Bill to ensure that important freedoms such as freedom of association, assembly, and speech are enshrined.
He said the mere fact that key stakeholders in the process are shunning the meetings should sound a caution bell to the Government and other stakeholders involved in the process.
Mr Bwalya said it is not in dispute that the consultative process for repealing and replacing the NGO Act offers a chance for NGOs to make adjustments to the NGO Act so that the work of NGOs are not stifled but promoted.
“We need an NGO law that conforms to the Republican constitution and the African Charter on People’s Rights guidelines. But if stakeholders are staying away could it be because they feel left out or are suspicious of the process? Our expectations as ZCSD is that this process will result into an NGO Bill that forges stronger partnership between the government and non-governmental organisations, something that is currently not obtaining”, he added.
Mr Bwalya has since appealed to NGOs that did not attend the first two-day consultative meeting in Lusaka to ensure that they do not shun the next consultation forum because this process is not an exercise in futility.
“According to the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) Registrar of NGOs records, Lusaka has about 670 registered NGOs”, he added.
Mr Bwalya has further thanked cooperating partners such as European Union, GIZ, SIDA and Action Aid Zambia who have funded the repeal and replacement process besides NGOs registered under the other pieces of legislation such as PACRA and Societies Act.
He said only 35 NGOs attended the two-day consultative meeting, which was last week.
It will be like the NDF. They will only cry once the law is in place
…Because serious NGOs have better things to do than mix with pretenders. Since when did government get into the business of offering olive branches? It’s their duty to do the correct things for the country not pretending to do us favours.
Who trusts PF any more anyway apart from you daft Mr Nicholas Musonda?
Are those thugs in picture calling themselves NGOs? Just went there to collect allowances.
Problem with such Zambian meetings, in general, is that stakeholders are never invited or invitations are sent hours before the meeting. One wonders how NGOs could dream of such meetings happening yet people get surprised at no one attending them.
I have read the article but it does’t say why there is a need to repeal the NGO act, what is wrong with the present one, who wants it repealed. Can you please give people a full picture in future so that they can contribute to the debate effectively
They think they are above the law. They think they should dictate laws to GRZ and not the other way around. Big brother KZ is spot on. They think they have a special place above Zambians and our laws. REPEAL AND REPLACE THIS ACT THROUGH PARLIAMENT, GRZ, IT’S YOUR PREROGATIVE.