Finally, the NGO Bill is now a Law: The faceless NGO should now get over it and comply
By Malith Alier, Juba, South Sudan
February 20, 2016 (SSB) — Two weeks ago, the long awaited Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) bill was signed in to law by the President. This occurred amidst resistance by the very NGOs and their lobby in form of western backers who think that they have interest of this country at heart.
The NGO(s) had operated in this part of the world for close to fifty years without legal framework whatsoever. This long operation in a legal vacuum had emboldened the west, the chief sponsor of UN and NGOs to resist any modest form of regulation. Some of us are not really sure of what parts of the law do they object to. And is it a constitutional right to object to any law in any form?
The US embassy and five other diplomatic missions were the most vocal or opposed to the NGO bill in its latest form. The NGO lobby wanted to exploit the South Sudanese people one more time because of the ongoing conflict. They claim from time to time that varying figures of population are food insecure. World Food Programme claimed at one point that more than half of the population is food insecure.
The people of South Sudan know better where the pain is before the NGO provides diagnosis. It is therefore, appropriate for the people of this country to tell the NGO when and where to operate.
It is reported that some NGOs are preparing to disappear from South Sudan citing the “restrictive” legislation. If that is so, it will relieve this country of the burden of “briefcase” NGOs which are also a burden to financiers across the globe. It was observed that these kinds of NGOs go around the globe raising funds in the name of needy people but they follow the money all the way and repatriate it in forms of huge salaries and bonuses for the expatriates.
This is the reason why they don’t want to disclose sources of funds and how these funds are spent. It is further observed that some NGOs are just middle organisations which do not come with funds at all. They only get their funding from UN agencies, other NGOs and diplomatic missions already in the country. This creates a long chain which may result in inefficiency.
Therefore, the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) should toughen on such middle organisations to stop overlap of tasks and services.
Laws of any country are not subject to negotiation as projected by the NGOs and their lobby. The NGO and lobby know very well how laws are made in their home countries. It is the sole responsibility of parliaments to make, amend or repeal laws at the time of their choosing.
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