
President John Magufuli
Arusha. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have appealed to President John Magufuli not to sign into law a contentious Bill they say could paralyse their operations.
They said once enacted, the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill No. 3 of 2019 may force dozens of non-state, local and regional organisations to wind up their activities.
Last week, Parliament endorsed the Bill to redefine – among others issues – operations of on-governmental organisations. The amendments affect eight laws.
They include: The Companies Act, Cap. 212, the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, Cap. 218, the Films and Stage Plays Act, Cap. 230, the Non-Governmental Organizations, Act Cap. 56, the Societies Act, Cap. 337, the Statistics Act Cap.351, the Tanzanian Shipping Agencies, Act Cap.415 and the Trustees’ Incorporation Act Cap.318.
Moving the amendments in Parliament, the Attorney General, Prof Adelardus Kilangi, said the changes to the Companies Act were meant to create a clear boundary between responsibilities of the Business Registration and Licensing Agency (Brela) and the Registrar of NGOs.
Prior to the changes, said Prof Kilangi, NGOs have traditionally been registered by either Brela or the Registrar of NGOs.This, he said, created challenges in the registration, supervision and monitoring of NGOs.
But CSOs said yesterday that the changes would not only effectively kill or reduce the critical role of the civil society sector, but also curtail the citizens’ rights to the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.
The fresh appeal to the Head of State was made early this week by CSO stakeholders during a hastily-convened meeting that took stock of the controversial law.
They argued that people enjoying the services of NGOs would equally be affected because the new law would generally curtail the activities of the non-state actors.
Worries are already mounting that the activities of scores of regional civil society bodies based here, including those affiliated to the East African Community (EAC), would be affected once the bill is enacted.
Their officials contacted by The Citizen yesterday declined to comment, saying they were still studying the implications.
However, activists who attended the meeting said they would also bring the matter to the EAC and its organs such as the Legislative Assembly (Eala).
Among those gravely worried is the Pan African Lawyers’ Union (Palu), an Arusha-based continental membership forum for African lawyers and lawyers’ associations founded in 2002.
Mr Amani Mhinda, executive director of Haki Madini, an Arusha-based NGO, said the time given for community-based and non-profit making organisations established under the company law to register afresh was too short.