Parliament has approved the mainstreaming of the National Bureau for Non-Governmental organizations (NGO Bureau) as a department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with MPs accusing the current staff of the Bureau of orchestrating bureaucracy thus hampering the monitoring of activities of NGOs in Uganda.
Speaker Anita Among cautioned MPs to debate with caution, the proposal by Government to dissolve the National Bureau of NGOs and have it mainstreamed as a Department in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, saying that NGOs operating in Uganda are being used to promote homosexuality and are being used for money laundering.
“I want you people to be very careful when you are talking about NGOs, this is where money is being laundered into the country, this is how homosexuality money is coming into the country,” said Among.
Peter Okeyoh (Bukooli Island) while backing the proposal to mainstream NGO Bureau to the Ministry of Internal Affairs informed MPs that Shs4.4bn was given to the NGOs’ Bureau for its activities, but of out of this, Shs3.4bn was spent on rent.
Isaac Modoi (Lutseshe County) said “I think that the mainstreaming is very important and it will improve on the national objective of this country. When you allow NGOs to operate separate from the State, then you will find that the objective of our nation, protection of our people will be muddled through. So to me I think the mainstreaming is very critical and it should be allowed.”
Sarah Opendi (Tororo DWR) raised queries on the failure by Government to highlight how the mainstreaming of the NGO Bureau would impact on the current staff.
“I am aware of some NGOs that have been operating and doing things that are contrary to our own values and cultures here, but I believe police and other agencies have been dealing with those other NGOs. The NGOs employ a number of people in this country, but my concern is that there is dual registration, most of the NGOs register with the NGO Bureau but also register with Uganda Registration Service Bureau and the certificate of financial implication that was issued doesn’t tell us how much we are going to save. So I find the certificate of financial implication defective because it doesn’t tell us the actual cost of this rationalization,” said Opendi.
Asuman Basalirwa (Bugiri Municipality) said: “I am not so sure whether we have many experiences dealing with NGO Bureau, when you look at the argument being put here, getting licenses, information or renewal from the NGO Bureau is extremely difficult. The fact that the basic things are being a challenge in that Bureau, I don’t think its stay is still justified. If government is saying they have capacity to accommodate an agency as a department, within its systems and procedures, who are you to say no, that will not happen?”
National Library off to Education Ministry
In a related development Parliament has passed into law the National Library (Amendment) Bill, 2024, that will see the National Library of Uganda mainstreamed as a department in the Ministry of Education and Sports.
John Twesigye, Chairperson Parliament’s Education Committee informed Parliament that the mainstreaming of the National Library of Uganda is envisaged to result in savings to Government through a reduced wage bill and personnel related costs amounting to UGX 1.282Bn in 2024/25 and UGX1.622Bn in 2025/26.
