The decision of the Minister of Social Welfare to suspend registration of Non-Governmental Organisations under her ministry has captured the attention of many founders and directors of Community Based and Civil Society Organisations across the country.
Many who spoke to this medium lauded the Minister of Social Welfare for coming from such a direction, as her observation seems to be loaded with mountain of truth with regards fraudulent activities.
According to madam Melrose Karminty, most of the NGOs and faith based organisations that have acquired registration certificates from the government on the pretence of engaging in development and charity works are not functional but rather acquired the certificates to gain benefits from government and international partners.
‘Most of them are portfolio NGOs with no existing office, but they use these certificates to get duty free and other benefits from national and international development partners,’ the Minister disclosed.
The decision of the minister to engage other line ministries like the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development to probe some of the registered organisations suspected of engaging in fraudulent acts, serves as a proactive intervention that has long been overdue.
The intention by the minister to increase registration fee and make requirement a bit rigid to deter imposters was greeted with mixed feelings.
Many CBOs and CSOs prefer monitoring mechanisms by the ministry on religious and faith based organisations registered with the ministry rather than increasing the registration fee unreasonably.
CBOs and CSOs who preferred their names not being mentioned perceived the approach of the minister as one-sided owing to the fact that there are local and internationally registered non-governmental donor partners purporting to be providing support to communities and faith based organisations that are not reaching those organisations for considerable amount of years now while others are milking huge percentage of the funding but dishing out a very meagre sum to the community and civil society organisations, especially organisations in remote chiefdoms in the provinces across the country.
In order to ensure that donor funds from international and local organisations (INGOs and NGOs) reach faith and community based organisations, the ministry must ensure that they are abreast with all interventions from INGOs and LNGOs and ensure that they reach implementing agencies and that the implementing agencies must ensure that eighty per cent (80%) of the available funding is implemented with the twenty per cent allocated to administrative expenses.
Chasing portfolio faith and community based organisations is regarded as a step in the right direction but turning blind eyes on donor funding institutions that are in the habit of muscling funding meant for community and faith based organisations is equally disastrous like those portfolio faith and community based organisations.
As a result the minister is therefore cautioned to watch her steps for such a vital approach not to be trivialised.
