By Wezzie Gausi:
Non-Governmental Organisations Regulatory Authority (Ngora) has lamented increased numbers of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are operating without licences in the country, warning that they will face the long arm of the law.
Ngora Chief Executive Officer Edward Chileka Banda said “our investigations have revealed that there are hundreds of NGOs that are operating without valid licences in the country”, a development he said could lead to implementation of illegal activities and duplication of efforts.
Chileka Banda speculated that this could be because of lack of transparency among NGOs as the issuance of a licence is contingent upon the submission of reports for the previous fiscal year and payment of annual subscription fees, in line with 2021 Fees Regulations.
“As at now, only 463 NGOs have obtained licences for 2024, compared to only 199 NGOs that did so around the same time last year.
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“Even though there is such an increase, there still is a large number of NGOs that are operating without a licence. The authority is, therefore, urging all NGOs that are yet to renew their licences for 2024 to do so promptly. Ngora will collaborate with service providers such as FIA [Financial Intelligence Authority], MRA [Malawi Revenue Authority], [Department of] Immigration [and Citizenship Services], banks, district councils and the donor community to exclusively serve NGOs that have valid licences for the current year.
“The authority would also like to warn non-compliant NGOs that sanctions, as stipulated in the NGO Act, will apply,” Chileka Banda said.
Recently, Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Minister Jean Sendeza emphasised the need for NGOs to register with the authority.
She said it was through the process of registration that government officials could know the number of NGOs that are legally working in the country.
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“It is against the laws of Malawi to have an organisation working in this country without being registered. We, as government, want to have a database of all the NGOs and know what activities and development agendas they are helping the government achieve,” Sendeza said.
Between January and December 2023, Ngora registered 94 NGOs, 83 of which are local and 11 are international.
In 2024, within the initial three months alone, the authority registered 33 NGOs, surpassing the 19 NGOs registered during the same period in 2023.
