Govt revokes over 1000 NGO licenses

The government has revoked operational licenses of more than 1,000 associations countrywide for violating registration rules in the ongoing crackdown that started in May this year on culprits who, among others, would deny the government revenues from tax collection. “We have managed to deregister 1,268 companies. Companies need to fulfill all the registration requirements to allow their operation in the country,” Ministry for Home Affairs’ Spokesperson Isaac Nantanga said early this week in Dar es Salaam. He said the government continues with the verification exercise involving 12,665 registered associations across the nation, taking violators to task though a grace period of 21 days has also been extended to allow 1,406 associations to meet the registration requirements. The requirements include unconditional adherence to ethics, submission of the annual performance, accountability and financial report and payment of annual fees to the Registrar’s Office as per the law governing operation of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). He said all the registered associations were obliged to abide by the laws governing their operations, including a respect to cultural and traditional values of the society in which they operate to avoid misunderstandings and social conflicts. However, accountability has always been a challenge in the operation of the associations despite effectiveness of the law on registration, he said, citing short of conducive environment as a motive behind non-accountability.  “The government will put in place good environment for NGOs operations,” he voiced the pledge, saying it has already adopted the Code of Conduct to enable NGOs to govern themselves.