NGOs ask government to ease regulations on their work

This was expressed during the launch of the Talk to Your Regulator Dialogue, a meeting between the Civil Society and the National NGO Bureau.

The organisations' representatives said that some of their functions help boost government programs, urging the authorities to promote a friendly work environment by softening on penalties.

Presently, failure to file monthly returns attracts a fine of Shs2million, and they want this fine removed.

Stephen Okello, Executive Director of the NGO Bureau, applauded the organisations for creating the platform to address such issues that affect their cooperation with authorities.

“I would like to commend the department for coming up with different solutions or even platforms that will help to solve issues of mistrust between our NGO’s and the government”, Okello said.

The launch was organised by Defenders Protection Initiative (DPI). Yona Wanjala, the leader of DPI called upon both regulators and organisations to use the platform to not only air their problems but to come up with solutions.

“This is a dialogue space, when you raise a concern, it will also be good to give a recommendation. We expect participants and regulators to respect the dialogue. The talk to the regulator is a search for solutions. We brought these regulators to answer, clarify and listen to our concerns of compliance,” Wanjala said.

Besides the National NGO Bureau, other regulators include Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), the Financial Intelligence Authority, NITA-U, and the Uganda Registration Services Bureau.