Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Thyolo have expressed concern over the K250,000 registration which they are required to pay in order to operate in the district.
In a bid to enhance coordination between Thyolo district council and Non-governmental Organizations, the council has re-established a board called ‘District NGO Board’ aimed at registering and regulating organisations operating in the
district.
Speaking during the district executive committee (DEC) meeting on 4 December 2020 at Education Office in the district, NGOs that were present during the meeting were shocked with registration fee which is pegged at MK250,000.
Thyolo CSOs Secretary Moses Kaunda said the registration fee is too high hence need some consultations.
“I appreciate the ideology of this NGO Board as it will act as a strong linkage between the council, representing government, and NGOs or CSOs hence achieving development easily.
“But my thought on registration fee is that, it could be better if the NGO Board Officer firstly made consultations either by inviting all NGOs and made discussions on registration fee rather than just imposing such amount of money as a registration fee,” said Kaunda.
Service Center Officer for NGO Board in Thyolo, Gilbert Mwafulirwa said the main objective is to maximize public benefits so that contribution of the organisations has got meaningful impact to communities that they are operating in.
“The core purpose is to register and regulates operations of NGOs in the district in order to achieve public benefits so that communities must really benefit from the works of organizations,” he
said.
Mwafulirwa further said that the Board will also promote transparency and accountability saying once an organization is registered, it will be easier for that organization
to be tracked.
“We want to improve transparency and accountability in the operations of organisations, and to have an effective functioning environment of NGOs for public benefit and also strengthening capacities of stakeholders and communities particularly Area Development Committee (ADC) relating to NGO works so that communities should be active and know what to do when it comes to NGO work,” said
Mwafulirwa.
NGO Board is the statutory body which was established in 2001 under section six of Non-governmental Organizations Act mandated to register and regulates NGOs operating in each and every district.
