CONGOMA HOLDS NGO LAW DISSEMINATION MEETINGS
The Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi (CONGOMA) has started holding dissemination meetings on the just amended NGO Law. The meetings that started in Lilongwe City on 15th June 2022 and are scheduled to be held in all districts in the country are meant to drill all the NGOs about the newly assented to NGO Law.
The first meeting attracted more than 160 NGOs from around Lilongwe. The Awareness Meetings are meant to brief NGOs on the process to the new law and implications therefrom and
ensure that NGOs are on the same page with CONGOMA (the Coordinator) and NGO Regulatory Authority (NGORA), the Regulator on what the 2022 Act stipulates. The meeting also provided next steps in the implementation of the Law including the process of developing Regulations which will add detail to the provisions of the Act.
The meeting also took time to remind or rekindle the NGOs on the 22 year journey that has taken the Law to where it is now especially the process by which they have passed through in order to get here. Some of the epic highlights that the meeting emphasized included;
2013: The narrative started on the need for an NGO Policy before the Act was even in place
2016 onwards: Held several meetings with the various Ministers of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare
Aug. 2017: First amendment Bill was produced by Min on Gender which CONGOMA refused to discuss because NGOs did not take part in its drafting
Nov 2017: Consensus of NGO General Assembly which resolved that CONGOMA should remain in the NGO Act to safeguard civic space as was the original scheme of the NGO Act promulgated by NGOs in 2000.
2018: 2nd draft Bill was produced which lacked consultations with the sector
2018: Some Civil Society organizations got an Injunction from Lilongwe High Court against the second Bill of 2018. While this was happening, several meetings with Development Partners (including the United Nations family) and INGOs continued.
2019-2020: 3rd and 4th Bills were produced which CONGOMA turned down.Following this, several dialogue sessions on the NGO Act amendment Bill of 2020 continued between Government (Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, NGO Board and Ministry of Justice) and Civil Society Organizations led by CONGOMA. The last Dialogue session was held on 14 April, 2020 at Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi.
Sept 2020: CONGOMA had an audience with His Excellency, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi, on Wednesday, 16th September, 2020 at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on issues of civic space and the NGO Bill and The President advised that we further dialogue on the Bill to address the concerns.
Dec 2020: Field visits were organized toRwanda by Ministry of Gender, NGO Board and Parliament; Kenya (delegation was led by National Advocacy Platform – NAP); and Lesotho (delegation was led by HRDC) in December 2020. These visits were meant to draw lessons and practices that would help amend the NGO Act in Malawi.
Dec 2020: Public Call for Submissions was made by Ministry of Gender through print media and televisions, for public input into the amendment of the NGO Act
29th Jan 2021: Convening of an all-inclusive consultative meeting at Capital Hotel took place. The meeting ended up forming a team that included key CSOs players to consolidate public input and draft the amendment.
12 Feb 2021: Last engagement between CSOs and Government at Livingstonia Beach Hotel in Salima. At this meeting the parties agreed to what is popularly known as the ‘Salima Consensus’ on the NGO Act amendment Bill.
Dec 2021: Consensus by CONGOMA General Assembly which adopted the Salima consensus 28 Feb 2022: NGO Act amendment Bill N0.10 of 2022, was gazetted
22 March 2022: NGO Act amendment Bill N0.10 of 2022, was unanimously passed by both sides of the house in Parliament with 1 amendment (increased CONGOMA representation in the NGORA Board from 2 to 3 people).
May 2022: Bill N0.10 of 2022 was assented to by the Head of State, making it a binding law.
The meeting also highlighted on the agreements that the stakeholders made in Salima on 12 February 2021 which were dubbed “The Salima Consensus”. The Agreements included the following:
Maintain CONGOMA as a designated NGO coordinating body in Malawi and
as a collective representative of all NGOs interest and concerns in Malawi and let CONGOMA perform all its original functions within the Act
Repeal S20(3)(a)(v) on requirement of evidence that the NGO is registered with CONGOMA before registering with NGO Board
Amend Part VIII: General Assembly to allow NGO Board report to Parliament through the Minister responsible instead of reporting to the CONGOMA General Assembly.
Rename NGO Board to be NGO Authority without additional powers and mandates
The Salima Consensus which comprised Government Representation, Governance Bodies and the Civil Society also agreed to amend Section 7 on the Composition of the NGORA Board, to vary and diversify the current 70-30% (CONGOMA-Government ) composition to the following formula:
Government ex-officios = 4
CONGOMA = 3
ICAM =1 (was later replaced by either Religious body or Traditional leader)
MLS = 1
ECAMA = 1
Public University = 1 (was later replaced by either Religious body or Traditional leader)
It is important tp note that Cabinet and Parliament adopted 94% of the agreements from the Salima Consensus when amending the NGO Act.
The Meeting highlighted on the Sections of the Law that some members of the Civil Society indicated their concerns on. Most of those Sections that CSOs thought were new provisions were just adopted from the previous law and carried forward into the new law, not necessarily introduced for the first time as the concerned NGOs had alleged.
Speaking at the meeting, The Vice Chairperson of CONGOMA, Mr. Dalitso Kubalasa, emphasized that as The Civil Society, they will always remain diverse and that is one of their strengths. As a coordinating body, CONGOMA will never stop to engage its family so that the Civil Society continues to serve the deserving Malawians in the right way. He also emphasized that CONGOMA will not alienate anyone but rather bring all the members on board so they move in the right direction in serving Malawians.
The meeting which attracted more than 160 members of CONGOMA was held in conjunction with the NGO Regulatory Authority (NGORA). More of such meetings will be held in Blantyre, Mzuzu and all districts in the country.
by Mphatso Jezman, CONGOMA