NGO Regulatory Authority (NGORA) has faulted some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for boycotting an interface on the new NGO Act of 2022.
NGO Regulatory Authority (NGORA) in conjunction with CONGOMA on Wednesday held the interface meeting with NGOs with the aim of raising awareness on the new NGO Act of 2022.
Commenting on NGOs which boycotted the meeting, NGORA Vice chairperson Nina Ghambi said the decision they made of not attending the meeting is wrong because they missed some important information about the NGO Act and it could have been good for such NGOs to attend the meeting and get real facts about the NGO law.
“After presentation there was plenary and everyone was allowed to ask questions, to get clarification on whatever they don’t understand. So, it is wrong to boycott this meeting otherwise they would have gained what they lost today,” said Ghambi.
Some Non-Governmental Organizations like CHRR and YAS boycotted the meeting saying the meeting was not necessary because the President already assented to the bill despite their protests. The NGOs had also been criticizing the act before it was passed in Parliament.
Despite this, Ghambi said the NGO Authority will still reach out to organisations which are disagreeing with the new law.
Among other things, the NGO Act seeks to change the NGO Board into an Authority and also remove the requirement that NGOs have to register with Council for NGOs in Malawi (Congoma) before registering with the board.
It further intends to create a provision that will require the Authority to comply with Public Audit Act, Public Finance Management Act and Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act requirements.
Ghambi said the whole essence of the meeting was to bring awareness of the amended act and that the meeting was very crucial as it will ensure that the NGO sector has real facts on the NGO Law.
“I think from the activities of today, CONGOMA is actually working hard to make sure that people are aware of what the amendment is saying. In the presentation today, there were clear explanations as to where we are coming from, we had a look at the old act and then the new act was also brought into the space so that everybody understands what has actually changed,” said Ghambi.
On his part, Vice Chairperson for CONGOMA Dalitso Kubalasa said the awareness sessions are meant to help provide all the information and real facts to the NGO sector and that the process is very critical to all NGOs.
“We have noted that these are matters of law, we have noted that there is a lot of information that people don’t have and I think it will be very important that all of us start from the same page as we engage with this law and as we go forward together whatever, grey areas that could be there we also discuss and see what opportunities are there for us,” said Kubalasa.
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