Online registration of CSOs to get underway soon: government

Dodoma. The government is putting final touches to an online registration platform for civil society organisations (CSOs).

Speaking in Dodoma during a CSO Week 2019 session themed “The Evidence: What Have We Learnt About State-CSO Relations in Tanzania?”, the Registrar of NGOs, Ms Vickness Mayao, said the platform would make it possible for NGOs to be registered in a timely and convenient manner.

Responding to questions from the floor, Ms Mayao said the government was aware of the trouble people go through when trying to register new CSOs, including having to travel all the way to Dodoma and make numerous follow-ups with the relevant authorities.

“Our goal with this new innovative tool is to make the registration of NGOs much easier and more convenient. You only need to have a device connected to the internet to be registered from anywhere in Tanzania. Registration will be much more and convenient…bureaucracy will be a thing of the past,” she said.

Ms Mayao added that the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, which is responsible for CSO registration, is in the process of adopting an online registration system following the successful migration of other government departments, including the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (Brela) and Immigration.

“Our department currently does not have the staff numbers required to expedite the process of NGO registration. However, despite these staffing constraints, it will now be possible to process applications at a much greater pace because paperwork will be reduced to a minimum,” she said.

The Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, said during the official opening of CSO Week on Monday that the total number of CSOs registered in the country by October 30, 2019 stood at 10,318.

Of the 617 CSOs registered in the last two years, 44 were registered at the international level, 551 nationally, seven regionally and 15 at the district level. This took the total number of CSOs registered in the country by October 30, 2019 to 10,318.

Ms Mwalimu added that the ministry would do everything possible to create a better and enabling environment for CSOs to flourish in the country, and urged to embrace transparency in their day-to-day activities.

“As the ministry responsible for civil society, we encourage more CSOs to register and be part and parcel of the process of development in our country.

We definitely need more CSOs to assist the government in areas such as health, education, water and the environment so that they can work directly with the people at the grassroots in achieving sustainable development.”