1.0 INTRODUCTION

This paper sets out to give the reason why of late the Zambian Government have been pushing for the enactment of the NGO Bill into an Act of Parliament. In doing so the essay will firstly define the key concepts in the question. Thereafter give an analysis of why the NGO Bill and why it met with a lot of dissent from the NGO fraternity and other stakeholders. Furthermore, why government was so eager to enact such a law and what factors contributed to the NGO’s reaction towards Governments intention.

2.0 DEFINITIONS

2.1. Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)

There are so many definitions of the Non-governmental Organisation. World Bank defines the NGO as many groups and institutions that are entirely or largely independent of government and that have primary humanitarian or cooperative rather that commercial objectives. They are private agencies in industrial countries that support international development; indigenous groups organized regionally or nationally; and member-groups in villages. NGOs include charitable and religious associations that mobilize private funds for development, distribute food and family planning services and promote community organization. They also include independent cooperatives, community associations, water-user societies, women’s groups and pastoral associations. Citizen groups that raise awareness and influence policy are also NGOs.

It is also defined as an organization established by and for the community without or with little intervention from the government; they are not only a charity organization, but work on socio-economic-cultural activities. It is also an organization that is flexible and democratic in its organization and attempts to serve the people without profit for itself.

In this paper I am going to define an NGO as a private voluntary grouping of individuals or associations not operated for profit or for other commercial purposes but which have organized themselves nationally or internationally for the benefit of the public at large and for the promotion of social welfare, development, charity or research in areas inclusive of, but not restricted to, health, relief, agriculture, education, industry and the supply of amenities and services (Yansah 1995:16).

2.2. A Bill

To bring the discussion into context I want to define what a Bill is. For purpose of this discussion we are referring to the enactment of the NGO Bill that government introduced into parliament this year. A bill is an Act to provide for the co-ordination and registration of non-governmental organizations (NGO) Board and the Zambia Congress of Non-governmental organization, to enhance the transparency organizations; and provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing. In Zambia it is by the Parliament of Zambia (Draft NGO bill, 2007).

3.0 Why Government was so eager to Enact the Law

In understanding this question it is important to understand the role of NGOs. There are a lot of views on the role of NGOs. Among the wide variety of roles that NGO’s play six important roles have been identified:-

(i) Development and Operation of Infrastructure

These are community-based organizations and cooperatives that can acquire, subdivide and develop land, construct housing, provide infrastructure and operate and maintain infrastructure such as wells or public toilets and solid waste collection services. They can also develop building material supply centres and other community-based economic enterprises. In many cases, they will need technical assistance or advice from governmental agencies or higher-level NGOs.

(ii) Supporting Innovation, Demonstration and Pilot Projects

NGO’s have the advantage of selecting particular places for innovative projects and specify in advance the length of time which they will be supporting the project-overcoming some of the shortcomings that governments face in this respect. NGO’s can also be pilots for larger government projects by virtue of their ability to act more quickly than the government bureaucracy.

(iii) Facilitating Communication

NGO’s use interpersonal methods of communication, and study the right entry points whereby they gain the trust of the community they seek to benefit. They would also have a good idea of the feasibility of the projects they take up. The significance of this role to the government is that NGOs can communicate to the policy-making levels of government, information about the lives, capabilities, attitudes and cultural characteristics of people at the local level.

NGO can facilitate communication upward from people to the government and downward from the government to the people. Communication upward involves informing government about what local people are thinking, doing and feeling while communication downward involves informing local people about what the government is planning and doing. NGOs are also in a unique position to share information horizontally, networking between other organizations doing similar work.
(iv) Technical Assistance and Training

Training institutions and NGOs can develop a technical assistance and training capacity and use this to assist governments

(v) Research, Monitoring and Evaluation

Innovative activities need to be carefully documented and shared-effective participatory monitoring would permit the sharing of results with the people themselves as well as with the project staff.

(vi) Advocacy for and with the poor.

In some cases, NGOs become spokespersons for the poor and attempt to influence government policies and programs on their behalf. This may be done through a variety of means ranging from demonstration and pilot projects to participation in public forums and formulation of government policy and plans, to publicizing research results and case studies of the poor. Thus NGOs play roles from advocates for the poor to implementers of government programs, from agitators and critics to partners and advisors; from sponsors of pilot projects to mediators.

The Government of Zambia was so eager to enact the NGO Bill introduced in 2007 in Parliament by Justice Minister, George Kunda as it would have called for the registration and co-ordination of NGO’s to regulate the work and the area of work of NGO’s operating in Zambia. If the bill became law it would empower the Justice Minister to form a 10-member board, comprised of government members and two representatives from civil society, which would receive discuss and approve the code of conduct (of NGO’s) and provide policy guidelines to NGO’s for harmonizing their activities to the national development plan of Zambia.

In governments view NGOs have not followed these roles. NGOs have been political in the running of there programs. For instance pushing for the enactment of the constitution, pushing for government to do things not in the interest of government. They have been acting as a pressure group, have not been accountable to the people with donor funds they get and do not even disclose which donors funds their projects. Mostly the funds they get are used in allocating themselves with huge salaries and they also pay so highly to staff that are not even professional and can not even deliver to the expected standard and hence end up using resources for personal empowerment.

4.0 Why NGO Bill met with a lot of dissent from the NGO fraternity and other Stakeholders

In my view government was so eager to enact the bill to regulate NGOs to make them accountable and transparent in the delivery of there services. On the other hand this bill meet with a lot of dissent from NGOs and stakeholders because Civil Society in Zambia feared that the imminent introduction of legislation aimed at regulating non-governmental organizations (NGOs) would severely comprise their work and independence, and could even result in their work operations being closed down (afrol News, 19, July, 2007).

The NGO Bill met with a lot of dissent from Civil Society groups and aid donors who expressed misgivings over the bill, which they said was draconian and aimed at restricting the operation of NGOs, especially those involved in human rights work as the bill seeks to introduce tight rules regarding the registration, management and operation of NGOs with provisions requiring them to submit quarterly reports of their activities. The bill also met with a lot of different views as members of parliament had also opposed the bill which they said went against the constitution that guarantees freedom of association, assembly and expression (W. M. Sinkamba and W. C. Matoka, (2005).

When the draft NGO bill emerged from Government for presentation to Parliament, the NGOs who alleged the proposed bill did not reflect the original draft that they had worked on, fiercely contested the document. They alleged that the document was heavily” doctored” by government and therefore NGOs refused to associate with it. This has in the last decade led to the stalemate of the process in formulation of the National Policy on NGOs and of the NGOs legislation.

5.0 What are the Factors that contributed to NGO’s reaction towards Governments intention.

Civil society leaders and human rights activitists told the UN media ‘IRIN’ the new law was a ploy by government to silence their critics and erode the role of civil society. It is believed the bill is dictatorial and seeks to constrain and limit space for civil society in the country. Further, the bill sends a very wrong signal and threatens the existence of NGOs’, the board is to be directly under the Minister of Home Affairs, then it would mean that the same board would be de-registering, at will, any NGO whose style the government would not like (Lee Habasonda, 2007).

Currently NGOs are registered by the Registrar of Societies, a quasi-government organization, but after registration the government has little power to restrain NGOs from voicing political dissent, and any attempt to de-register an NGO usually involves long court battles. In the proposed bill, NGOs will be obliged to register annually.

The other concern in the draft NGO Bill is that the provisions do not conform to, and are inconsistent with the present democratic dispensation as they had vested too much unilateral power in the Minister. In understanding these concerns it is important to look at some of the powers allocated to the Justice Minister and any authorized officer as the Justice Minister may direct. The following are some concerns cited;

(1) The bill gives powers to the Minister to issue directives to the Registrar of Societies, and the Registrar is compelled to carry out the action”. These directives include the de-registering of NGOs.

(2) That the Board would be responsible to administer the Code of Conduct, and perform such other functions as the Minister may from time to time prescribe.

(3) That the Minister shall, by statutory instrument and after consultation and on the advice of the Board, make regulations for a Code of Conduct for organizations registered under this Act and in all these acts a question may arise as to why prescription is by the Minister.

The government have been failing to put an end to the activism or existence of SACCORD because there was no legal basis for de-registering them for holding dissenting views from the government. It is further believed that the bill reduces the right to freedom of expression and the right to freedom of association; it reduces the efficacy of NGOs, because if they can’t effectively criticize the state, then it means democracy would be losing ground and dictatorship would now creep in.

This is the first attempt by the Zambian government to regulate civil society since the onset of multiparty democracy 16 years ago, when Kenneth Kaunda, president since Zambia’s independence from Britain in 1964, was unseated in 1991 by former trade unionist Fredrick Chiluba.

Both local and international NGO’s have cried foul over government’s intentions to regulate them. Civil society organizations in Zambia, led by the Zambia Council for social development (ZCSD), civil society for poverty reduction (CSPR), the foundation for democratic process (FODEP), non-governmental coordination council (NGOCC), the Southern African centre for constructive resolution of disputes (SACCORD), and the law association of Zambia (LAZ), have since objected the government proposed NGO Bill 2007.

Local civil society organizations and international non-governmental organizations have petitioned parliament on the need to withdraw the bill so as to allow for broad based consultations.

Government has however, deferred debate on the 2007 NGO Bill, which was at committee stage, stakeholders are calling for a complete withdrawal of the NGO Bill 2007, which was tabled before parliament by Zambia’s Justice Minister George Kunda.

The NGO’s have also challenged government to stop receiving monetary support from the donor community. Reacting to persistency accusations by government that NGOs were agent of western imperialists’ forces, SACCORD Executive Director retorted that if it were so, it invariably meant that
African governments should also stop getting donor support.

6.0 CONCLUSION

Government wanted to introduce a bill so that they can introduce a regulatory frame work within which NGOs should operate and implement the activities on the other hand NGOs did not trust government and thought it was a way of controlling and undermining there activities. It is clear from discussion that an NGO bill is important so that it can provide for co-ordination and ensuring that NGOs operate within there mandate.

It is also clear to understand that the factors that led to the NGOs reaction towards government intention to enact the bill is the presentation of the bill to parliament is the failure by government to present the original draft bill as proposed. The NGOs alleged that the document was heavily doctored by government and therefore NGOs refused to associate with it. The government has decided to revive the stalled process by making amendments to the original draft bill before it is resubmitted to parliament and it was advised by stakeholders that government adopts the draft National Policy on NGOs that was drafted in 1996 as a working document and finally that the draft bill be presented to Parliament only after input from the entire NGOs sector.

REFERENCES

1. Yaansah, A. Edward (1995) : An analysis of Domestic Legislation to Regulate the Activities of Local and Foreign NGOs in Croatia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Oxford, Refugee Studies Programmes and Centre for Socio-Legal Studies.

2. Zambian draft Non-Governmentatal Organisation Bill, 2007

3. www.afrol News/IRIN, 19 July, 2007.

4. Lee Habasonda (2007): Southern African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD), a human rights and good governance watchdog.

5. W. M. Sinkamba and W. C. Matoka (2005), Draft Bill and Code of Conduct; Zambia Council for Social Development.