Government warns NGOs operating in secrecy

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  • Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which operate in secrecy to be shown the door, orders a government official in Kilimanjaro region

Moshi. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in secrecy will be shown the door, a senior government official has warned.

The NGOs have been told to be transparent in their day-to-day activities, including on expenditure of funds from donors.

“The government will not tolerate any double standards on this”, warned a community development officer with the Moshi Municipality, Ms Rose Minja.

Besides expenditure of funds, she called on NGOs to be open on the projects they were implementing to keep the trust of members and donors. Ms Minja gave the warning when addressing a meeting of an NGO called Tusonge at Umoja Hostel in Moshi at the weekend.

She said cases where funds donated by charitable organisations abroad were diverted from the targeted projects were rampant.

She pointed out that some officials of civil and social organisations acted more or less as conmen, at times using funds for their personal projects. She said the regulations on NGOs issued by the government in 2008 were explicit on the way the non-state bodies should operate.

“They should be accountable to their members and the expenditure of funds should be transparent,” she pointed out.

Ms Minja also stressed the need for the NGOs to collaborate with the government in implementation of their projects, insisting the government was a key stakeholder that should not be overlooked.

“The government has to be updated on the funds raised by donors, revenues generated internally and the implementation of the projects,” she explained.

She said the ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender and Children had a full department dealing with the NGOs that is headed by the Registrar. Tusonge director Aginatha Rutazaa said the organisation was focused on gender equality and the fight against outdated and discriminatory traditions such as female genital mutilation (FGM), among others.

She said betwee 2014 and 2016, the organisation reached out to 720 people living with disabilities and the poor through the village community banks (Vicoba) network in Moshi Rural District.

This year it has implemented projects targeting 195 women and girls, assisting them in entrepreneurial undertakings.

Speaking during the event, an official of Moshi Municipal Council Ms Edith Kilenga, said 96 per cent of cases taken to the juvenile courts involved battery and sexual assaults.

During a recent meeting here a senior Home Affairs ministry official warned that the government could strike off NGOs which failed to deliver as per their establishment.

He said at times the authorities had to intervene to resolve conflicts among the NGOs’ officials mostly over expenditure of money and management of assets.

He said at times the authorities had to intervene to resolve conflicts among the NGOs’ officials mostly over expenditure of money and management of assets.