From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: UGANDA: GOVERNMENT TO LEGISLATE AGAINST NGO
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 01:54:27 GMT

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: UGANDA: GOVERNMENT TO LEGISLATE AGAINST NGO ''CHARLATANS''


an inter press service feature

by richard tebere

kampala, sep 23 (ips) -- the uganda government is considering
legislation that will ensure greater accountability and
transparency in the activities of the non-governmental
organisations' (ngos) in the east african nation.

the move follows concerns expressed at recent seminars about
the growing number of ngos in uganda. long endeared to economic
experts as vehicles of grassroots development, the ngos are also
being accused of serious abuses.

at two recent seminars, both foreign and ugandan ngos came
under criticism for failing to respond to the needs of the
intended beneficiaries, tailoring their agendas to the donors,
and for the personal enrichment of the ngos' founder members.

at a workshop on 'pastoralism: crisis and transformation', a
lecturer and researcher at makerere university here, ernest
wabwire, accused some ngos of fostering the ''hidden agendas''
of the west.

wabwire cited the case of an italian ngo which during the
1980s refused to finance a water project in the arid kotido
district, in favour of importing lorryfulls of christmas cake
for the pastoral people in the district.

many foreign ngos are out of step with realities on the
ground, wabwire told the workshop, which was sponsored by the
independent centre for basic research (cbr) based here.

however, the most notorious have been the indigenous ngos
whose activities have been characterised by bitter leadership
wrangles, diversion of funds and duplication of services and
resources.

''others had realised it was not particularly difficult to
tap foreign money through ngo work'', mwalimu musheshe jr of the
uganda rural development and training programme (urdt), told
another seminar.

''this approach that totally leaves out participation by
the grassroots people in whose interest the ngo gets formed has
resulted in either failure or in projects that do not relate to
people's problems'', added musheshe.

the workshop agreed that many ngos were not accountable to
the people and lots of project funds ended up padding founder
members' pockets, never reaching the intended beneficiaries.
(more/ips)


uganda: ngos (2)

some of the ngos have, infact, been associated with the
japanese-built four-wheel-drive mitsubishi 'pajero' -- a status
symbol in present-day uganda.

several of the ngos were also found to be based in kampala,
the ugandan capital, far from their supposed areas of operation,
the rural areas.

many ngos have taken up environmental, women and children
issues not out of genuine concern, but simply because it is in
vogue to do so and that is into what the west is pouring money.

other ngos, especially groups running orphanages, have used
children in their charge as sources of cheap labour.

last year the government was forced to ban two ngos in the
southern masaka district following reports that they were
''confining and marrying off under-age girls''. the children
were overworked and kept in inhuman conditions.

heightened interest in ngo activity has sprouted on the crest
of the wave of international sympathy that came uganda's way
after the fall of the murderous regimes of dictator idi amin and
milton obote.

in less than seven years, the number of ngos has risen from a
few dozen to more than 500 today, some of them offering similar
services. the government is clearly worried about this trend.

addressing a monthly meeting of ngos here last week, first
deputy prime minister, eriya kategaya, said the increasing
number of indigenous ngos which give similar services under
different names leads to the belief that some of them have
''ulterior motives''.

there is need to merge the ngos involved in similar work, he
said.

this is not the first time an attempt is going to be made to
keep ngo activity under check. in 1988 the ngos themslves,
bowing to public criticism, formed a coordinating body --
development network of indigenous voluntary associations
(deniva).

the group has worked hard, against all odds, to bring some
sanity into the world of the ngos. todate 421 ngos are
registered with the deniva. ''but a lot more remain outside'',
says one deniva official, who did not wish to be named.

but, despite all the soul-searching, the ngos' positive role
in the development process in uganda is highly commendable.
their major achievements include: getting the people at
grassroots level, through education, to know their rights.
(end/ips/rt/apc/92)

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