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Uganda is one of 12 African states that, over the last 15 years, have passed laws to limit the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as part of what African governments have described as a broader strategy. to reduce the room for maneuver. for democratic activity.
Uganda is listed with the East African Member States, namely Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan. The others are Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Tunisia, Algeria, Sierra Leone and Egypt.
By reducing the space available for democratic activities, countries are experiencing a turnaround in the progress made in the 1990s.
These are the conclusions of a report entitled "Endangered Liberties: Extension of Anti-NGO Measures in Africa", released Tuesday by Freedom House, a Washington-based watchdog organization whose activities are aimed at strengthening freedom and freedom. democracy in the world. more than.
Freedom House primarily conducts research and analysis on the levels of freedom and democracy in the world, amplifies the fate of repressive or authoritarian leaders in order to incite the US and other democracies government to Oppose dictatorship and oppression.
The coordinator of the Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU), Mr Crispy Kaheru, hailed the report as an appropriate description of what was happening in Uganda.
Col Shaban Bantariza, deputy executive director of the government-owned Uganda Media Center, did not hesitate to reject the report.
"Different people in different parts of the world define democracy and rights in a different way, we define all who use different settings, but some people think that we should all respect their parameters." We are not narrowing space for Democratic activity, "he added. m said
According to the report, the result of a survey conducted in 20 African countries, the purpose of the law is to control NGOs in different ways, including "limiting the flow of foreign funding, limiting the recruitment of foreigners, making difficult to register organizations and allow governments to interfere in the sector while erecting obstacles in the operational environment. "
Six other countries: Rwanda, Zambia, Sudan, Malawi, Egypt and Mozambique have also put in place laws to have the same effect.
"The goal is not only to starve the resource sector, but also to put in place more effective government controls, even to the point of taking control of the sector," the report says.
According to the report, the legal framework has always involved a combination of four categories of measures, including ensuring that registration conditions are subject to wide bureaucratic discretion; limit, limit or exclude foreign financing and the hiring of expatriates; to allow undue interference in the activities of NGOs; and the exclusion of NGOs from activities considered as political.
According to the report, the mandatory registration requirements constitute a violation of freedom of association.
The Non-Governmental Organizations Act 2016 gives the Minister of the Interior and the National Commission of Non-Governmental Organizations broad powers to oversee, approve, inspect and dissolve all non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations . It also imposes severe penalties for violations. It exposes offenders to fines and up to eight years in prison, depending on the offense committed.
On September 20, 2017, at the height of protests against the ruling NRM's plan to repeal Article 102 (b) of the Constitution which limits presidential candidates to 75 years, the government invoked this law and sanctioned the Police ActionAid offices in Uganda and the Great Lakes Strategic Studies Initiative (Gliss). Police confiscated property, including computers, on charges that the NGO was engaging in money laundering.
On October 6, the Bank of Uganda, working on the orders of the Ministry of the Interior, froze the accounts of both organizations. ActionAid accounts were unblocked two months later, but not those of Gliss.
Used as conduits?
"Some of these NGOs say they are going to be charitable, but end up as negative engagement vehicles.If you engage in political projects and the intelligence you discover, you can expect to political risks, "said Col Bantariza in defense of the raids. and freezing accounts.
Now, Freedom House's report alludes to these moves and the imposition of multiple layers of mandatory registration at the national level in one or more ministries and in the localities where the NGOs operate.
"… In the case of Uganda, foreign NGOs register with the National NGO Office, but they also require letters from their country's embassy in Kampala and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ugandan foreign affairs, as well as "recommendations" from the relevant ministry or sector in Uganda and the NGO Oversight Committee in the district or county of the operation, which may reject a request.All function as additional filters having a real power to determine the result of a request, "reads the report.
However, Col Bantariza insists that it was necessary to regulate NGOs, adding that laws can still be reviewed if they are found to be unfair.
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