123 NGOs registered with NGO Board in 2016
The Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Board recorded the highest number of organisations seeking operational licences in the country.
According to the board’s Chief Executive Officer, Voice Mhone, in 2016, the board registered 123 NGOs bringing the total number of the recognised organisations to 570.
Mhone said the board is registering more organisations although many others are operating without licences.
“Last year, we had a record registration of the organisations as compared to the previous years, we believe that happened because we also allowed online registrations. Now we are still registering and we are asking them [NGOs] to come,” Mhone said.
The NGO Board has also reiterated that it will deregister all organisations that are operating without registration.
Deregistration of the organisations, according to Mhone, is a way of bringing sanity to the operations of the NGOs whose image is tarnished by the non-registered ones.
“We have a lot of NGOs that are working across the country in different fields but not all are in our books and it is our call that they should be working as community-based organisations (CBOs),” he said.
In the first quarter of every year, the registered organisations are required to pay an annual operation fee. The local NGOs are required to pay K50, 000 while international NGOs are required to pay K250, 000.
The annual payment period is open from January to March, and organisations that fail to comply face operational ban.
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