New NGO Bill: Rule of law or is it repression?

A mood of nervousness has engulfed the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) sector over a Bill the minister of Internal Affairs tabled before Parliament last week. The NGOs and socio-political commentators argue the NGO Bill (2015) gazetted on April 10, seeks to control rather than regulate arguably the country’s biggest non-state sector.
In the preamble, the drafters of the Bill make a revealing assertion, which can be interpreted as the spirit and motivating factor behind the Bill.
“It has been noted that the rapid growth of NGOs has led to subversive methods of work and activities, which in turn undermine accountability and transparency in the sector, there is, therefore, need to streamline the regulation of the NGOs,” the Bill, which seeks to repeal and replace the NGO Act Cap. 113 reads. Collinsdictionary.com defines the adjective subversive as, “liable to overthrow a government.”

Bone of contention
Right there is the bone of contention civil society actors (in their broad sense-religious and faith based organisations, academia, labour unions, loose associations) and NGOs as we know them, have to pick with the ministry.
Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo emphasises the need for the sector, estimated at a membership of 12,000, to be regulated.
He says: “Everybody should be governed by the law, Parliament, Judiciary and Executive are all governed by the law so why don’t NGOs want to be governed? Uganda is at a stage where it is consolidating the rule of law.”
Of course there is an academic debate on whether rule of law can be interpreted as rule by law but be that as it may, the argument from the sector’s leaders has been, as Mr Richard Ssewakiryanga, the executive director of the Uganda National NGO Forum, says: “That we don’t have a problem with regulation, our problem is that government seeks to criminalise the work of NGOs rather than look at their developmental role.”
“There are other laws that help address the gaps, if any. Why for instance should an eight year sentence be instituted if one fails to submit their books of accounts? That is too harsh.”
Ssewakiryanga also takes issue with the monitoring role assigned to Resident District Commissioners to oversee the work of NGOs in districts, arguing that, “RDCs are partisan and do political work, what business do they have supervising non-partisan organisations?”
Ms Jacqueline Asiimwe, a human rights activist and member of the Uganda Women Lawyers Association (FIDA), says: “It is fine to be regulated, we understand it, but the way government is doing it is not to provide an enabling but restrictive environment, not just for NGOs but for citizen organisation; cripple it to the extent that you either walk away or toe the line.”
She adds: “The other thing is, how do they view us? If they view us as enemies of the state or at least potential enemies of the state, then the law is designed to make it impossible for us to exist.”
Citizens Coalition on Electoral Democracy in Uganda communications manager Charles Mwanguhya concurs with Ms Asiimwe.
“The Bill seeks to exert more government control and oversight. It is important for government to know what goes on in civil society but it shouldn’t be hampering their work. Regulation is key but control is absurd,” Mr Mwanguhya says.
He also waters down Mr Ofwono’s argument that unlike government whose sources of funds are known, some NGOs’ funding bases remain mysterious and even more intriguing are their spending lines.
“From my time as a journalist and now civil society person, I have always known that NGOs’ sources of funding are public knowledge. Government is only finding itself uncomfortable with anyone who questions how it does business,” Mr Mwanguhya says.
“It is advocacy NGOs under attack so the argument the regime makes is that they are doing the bidding for the donors. Their biggest discomfort are the governance related NGOs, you don’t hear about Water Aid or Save the Children which help close the service delivery gaps.”

The context
To put Mwanguhya’s take into context, one ought to take a flashback to the oil debate where the Petroleum Exploration, Development and Production Bill, now an Act, stirred ripples in government from 2010-2012.

At that time, Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) came under attack from the President who questioned how and where they got money to the tune of Shs1 billion to organise a workshop for MPs.

The governor Bank of Uganda would later write to commercial banks, asking them to furnish the central bank with details of ACODE’s transactions, notifying them that the same were suspicious.

In the last few years, it can be argued with reasonable evidence, civil society in Uganda has grown both in stature and influence, almost to the extent of over-shadowing the political Opposition.

The Black Monday Movement attracted immense government attention, with several arrests made and threats flying from different security offices.
You also have the electoral reforms. Without civil society again, one can safely argue, these reforms may not have gained the momentum they did. The National NGO Forum particularly took a lead role in the countrywide consultations and Opposition parties followed in line.

Today, the disillusionment over the Constitution Amendment Bill, which has been criticised for ignoring the reforms, and is playing into the ‘Citizens Reforms Now’ launched by three time presidential aspirant Dr Kizza Besigye on the premise of ‘no elections without electoral reforms’ is traceable to that of Hotel African Citizens Compact.

The Forum for Democratic Change’s policy agenda, aptly named, ‘Uganda’s Leap Forward’ that attempted to rejuvenate a party largely critiqued as having taken to sleeping mode, again had reasonable handiwork of some civil society actors, either at the level of lobbying donors to finance it or concept development.

There is also the fear in the NRM that former prime minister Amama Mbabazi personally or through his agents, has or had penetrated critical sections of the NGO sector. At the helm of the infamous ‘Kale Leaks’ attributed to police boss Gen Kale Kayihura whose recordings leaked, the IGP is quoted coaching a suspect to admit Bishop Zac Niringiye was in talks with Mr Mbabazi.

Bishop Niringiye is a respected and high value asset in the NGO world, and was arrested during the Black Monday-police friction and electoral reforms’ consultations in eastern Uganda.

At the peak of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill debate, many NGOs took the back stage, aware of the sentiment laden in the discourse on sexual minorities in Uganda but some clearly lobbied the donor community to cut government spending. Some of these NGOs put up a spirited, albeit futile fight, against Sam Kutesa’s United Nations General Assembly presidency bid.

In whatever way one reads the situation, any government, especially one “hell bent on regime longevity and survival” as Godber Tumushabe, the associate director of Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies, puts it, would and will pick interest in that sector that employs close to a quarter a million Ugandans.

Mr Sewakiryanga confirms some politicians “keep coming here, asking how we can work together and to use our civic spaces but I keep resisting their temptations. So if government thinks it can stop it using a law, they are wrong because we have internal mechanisms of dealing with that since we are non-partisan. Some of our members are political but not partisan.”

Mr Sewakiryanga adds that from colonial times, the struggle for independence in Uganda was largely civil society driven by way of farmers, traders, transporters’ unions. Immediately after attaining self-rule, the Milton Obote and Idi Amin regimes started harassing civil society groups.

The NGO Forum boss adds, “The current government is aware it came to power through the power of citizen movements and organising. They are now saying, if we came to power through citizen led movements, someone else can use them. The law is designed to curtail the work of a few NGOs but it ends up affecting everybody else.”

In Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, the whip of civil society regulation continues to hover over their activity and in Burundi, embattled president Pierre Nkurunziza recently blamed his woes on opposition parties and some civil society groups.

For Uganda’s case, Ms Asiimwe says, “The laws we see are a cause of action for a government that has been in power for this long. You feel more insecure and want to know what everyone is doing, you restrict everybody because you are watching your back but people will always devise means of association. You cannot stop that.”

No problem with regulation
Ms Cissy Kagaba, the executive director Anti Corruption Coalition Uganda, which rallied the donor community to withhold funding to the government of Uganda at the height of the multi-million dollar Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Public Service scandals says, “We have no problem with regulation, but the tragedy is that the law is targeting specific NGOs which is childish because these organisations are bigger than individuals. The Constitution guarantees the freedom of association so the Bill should not be seen to be curtailing that.”

Mr Ofwono, however, insists, “If we can regulate the Opposition which wants to grab power from us, what about these NGOs? The law seeks to create a platform for fair play and transparency. If it was giving the minister unilateral powers to close an NGO that would be problematic. Whatever clauses they disagree with can be debated because the Bill is now at Parliament.”

The NGO Forum is expected to issue a clause by clause analysis of the Bill and share their concerns with Parliament.

How successful this window of engagement will be remains to be seen.

A mood of nervousness has engulfed the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) sector over a Bill the minister of Internal Affairs tabled before Parliament last week. The NGOs and socio-political commentators argue the NGO Bill (2015) gazetted on April 10, seeks to control rather than regulate arguably the country’s biggest non-state sector.
In the preamble, the drafters of the Bill make a revealing assertion, which can be interpreted as the spirit and motivating factor behind the Bill.

“It has been noted that the rapid growth of NGOs has led to subversive methods of work and activities, which in turn undermine accountability and transparency in the sector, there is, therefore, need to streamline the regulation of the NGOs,” the Bill, which seeks to repeal and replace the NGO Act Cap. 113 reads. Collinsdictionary.com defines the adjective subversive as, “liable to overthrow a government.”

Bone of contention
Right there is the bone of contention civil society actors (in their broad sense-religious and faith based organisations, academia, labour unions, loose associations) and NGOs as we know them, have to pick with the ministry.

Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo emphasises the need for the sector, estimated at a membership of 12,000, to be regulated.
He says: “Everybody should be governed by the law, Parliament, Judiciary and Executive are all governed by the law so why don’t NGOs want to be governed? Uganda is at a stage where it is consolidating the rule of law.”

Of course there is an academic debate on whether rule of law can be interpreted as rule by law but be that as it may, the argument from the sector’s leaders has been, as Mr Richard Ssewakiryanga, the executive director of the Uganda National NGO Forum, says: “That we don’t have a problem with regulation, our problem is that government seeks to criminalise the work of NGOs rather than look at their developmental role.”

“There are other laws that help address the gaps, if any. Why for instance should an eight year sentence be instituted if one fails to submit their books of accounts? That is too harsh.”
Ssewakiryanga also takes issue with the monitoring role assigned to Resident District Commissioners to oversee the work of NGOs in districts, arguing that, “RDCs are partisan and do political work, what business do they have supervising non-partisan organisations?”

Ms Jacqueline Asiimwe, a human rights activist and member of the Uganda Women Lawyers Association (FIDA), says: “It is fine to be regulated, we understand it, but the way government is doing it is not to provide an enabling but restrictive environment, not just for NGOs but for citizen organisation; cripple it to the extent that you either walk away or toe the line.”
She adds: “The other thing is, how do they view us? If they view us as enemies of the state or at least potential enemies of the state, then the law is designed to make it impossible for us to exist.”
Citizens Coalition on Electoral Democracy in Uganda communications manager Charles Mwanguhya concurs with Ms Asiimwe.
“The Bill seeks to exert more government control and oversight. It is important for government to know what goes on in civil society but it shouldn’t be hampering their work. Regulation is key but control is absurd,” Mr Mwanguhya says.
He also waters down Mr Ofwono’s argument that unlike government whose sources of funds are known, some NGOs’ funding bases remain mysterious and even more intriguing are their spending lines.
“From my time as a journalist and now civil society person, I have always known that NGOs’ sources of funding are public knowledge. Government is only finding itself uncomfortable with anyone who questions how it does business,” Mr Mwanguhya says.
“It is advocacy NGOs under attack so the argument the regime makes is that they are doing the bidding for the donors. Their biggest discomfort are the governance related NGOs, you don’t hear about Water Aid or Save the Children which help close the service delivery gaps.”

The context
To put Mwanguhya’s take into context, one ought to take a flashback to the oil debate where the Petroleum Exploration, Development and Production Bill, now an Act, stirred ripples in government from 2010-2012.

At that time, Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) came under attack from the President who questioned how and where they got money to the tune of Shs1 billion to organise a workshop for MPs.

The governor Bank of Uganda would later write to commercial banks, asking them to furnish the central bank with details of ACODE’s transactions, notifying them that the same were suspicious.
In the last few years, it can be argued with reasonable evidence, civil society in Uganda has grown both in stature and influence, almost to the extent of over-shadowing the political Opposition.

The Black Monday Movement attracted immense government attention, with several arrests made and threats flying from different security offices.
You also have the electoral reforms. Without civil society again, one can safely argue, these reforms may not have gained the momentum they did. The National NGO Forum particularly took a lead role in the countrywide consultations and Opposition parties followed in line.

Today, the disillusionment over the Constitution Amendment Bill, which has been criticised for ignoring the reforms, and is playing into the ‘Citizens Reforms Now’ launched by three time presidential aspirant Dr Kizza Besigye on the premise of ‘no elections without electoral reforms’ is traceable to that of Hotel African Citizens Compact.

The Forum for Democratic Change’s policy agenda, aptly named, ‘Uganda’s Leap Forward’ that attempted to rejuvenate a party largely critiqued as having taken to sleeping mode, again had reasonable handiwork of some civil society actors, either at the level of lobbying donors to finance it or concept development.

There is also the fear in the NRM that former prime minister Amama Mbabazi personally or through his agents, has or had penetrated critical sections of the NGO sector. At the helm of the infamous ‘Kale Leaks’ attributed to police boss Gen Kale Kayihura whose recordings leaked, the IGP is quoted coaching a suspect to admit Bishop Zac Niringiye was in talks with Mr Mbabazi.
Bishop Niringiye is a respected and high value asset in the NGO world, and was arrested during the Black Monday-police friction and electoral reforms’ consultations in eastern Uganda.
At the peak of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill debate, many NGOs took the back stage, aware of the sentiment laden in the discourse on sexual minorities in Uganda but some clearly lobbied the donor community to cut government spending. Some of these NGOs put up a spirited, albeit futile fight, against Sam Kutesa’s United Nations General Assembly presidency bid.
In whatever way one reads the situation, any government, especially one “hell bent on regime longevity and survival” as Godber Tumushabe, the associate director of Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies, puts it, would and will pick interest in that sector that employs close to a quarter a million Ugandans.
Mr Sewakiryanga confirms some politicians “keep coming here, asking how we can work together and to use our civic spaces but I keep resisting their temptations. So if government thinks it can stop it using a law, they are wrong because we have internal mechanisms of dealing with that since we are non-partisan. Some of our members are political but not partisan.”
Mr Sewakiryanga adds that from colonial times, the struggle for independence in Uganda was largely civil society driven by way of farmers, traders, transporters’ unions. Immediately after attaining self-rule, the Milton Obote and Idi Amin regimes started harassing civil society groups.

The NGO Forum boss adds, “The current government is aware it came to power through the power of citizen movements and organising. They are now saying, if we came to power through citizen led movements, someone else can use them. The law is designed to curtail the work of a few NGOs but it ends up affecting everybody else.”

In Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, the whip of civil society regulation continues to hover over their activity and in Burundi, embattled president Pierre Nkurunziza recently blamed his woes on opposition parties and some civil society groups.

For Uganda’s case, Ms Asiimwe says, “The laws we see are a cause of action for a government that has been in power for this long. You feel more insecure and want to know what everyone is doing, you restrict everybody because you are watching your back but people will always devise means of association. You cannot stop that.”

No problem with regulation
Ms Cissy Kagaba, the executive director Anti Corruption Coalition Uganda, which rallied the donor community to withhold funding to the government of Uganda at the height of the multi-million dollar Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Public Service scandals says, “We have no problem with regulation, but the tragedy is that the law is targeting specific NGOs which is childish because these organisations are bigger than individuals. The Constitution guarantees the freedom of association so the Bill should not be seen to be curtailing that.”
Mr Ofwono, however, insists, “If we can regulate the Opposition which wants to grab power from us, what about these NGOs? The law seeks to create a platform for fair play and transparency. If it was giving the minister unilateral powers to close an NGO that would be problematic. Whatever clauses they disagree with can be debated because the Bill is now at Parliament.”
The NGO Forum is expected to issue a clause by clause analysis of the Bill and share their concerns with Parliament.
How successful this window of engagement will be remains to be seen.

REACTION

‘Everybody should be governed by the law, Parliament, Judiciary and Executive are all governed by the law so why don’t NGOs want to be governed? Uganda is at a stage where it is consolidating the rule of law,’
Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo

‘The Bill seeks to exert more government control and oversight. It is important for government to know what goes on in civil society but it shouldn’t be hampering their work. Regulation is key but control is absurd,’
Charles Mwanguhya, CCEDU spokesperson

Verbatim > They said it this week

“According to the NRM constitution, once you are a member, you are a member for life. Leaders work for the party; they are not owners of the party,”
Former NRM secretary general Amama Mbabazi on decision by the party to deny registration to independents and ‘rebel’ MPs

“We still remain puzzled why Independents would be required to come up with such a number and the directly elected MP would remain at 10 (signatures),”
EC Boss Badru Kiggundu proposed amendment requiring independent MPs to mobilise 1,000 signatures

“Cancer and asthma cases have gone up partly because of the surge of old cars and we need to widen the tax base,”
Member of parliament Fred Mwesigye (Nyabushozi) on vote to increase taxes on imported used vehicles

“We can never get a coup here in Uganda and any attempts in that direction would never be accepted by the civilians. Ugandans can never accept to return to such a situation,”
International Relations minister Okello Oryem on Burundi’s attempted coup

“We declare our industrial action officially today (Thursday). We call upon teachers not to report to school and not to participate in teaching until 10 per cent is paid,”
Mr James Tweheyo, the Uganda National Teachers’ Union general secretary industrial action over pay rise