The Zambian State and civil society do not very often sing from the same hymn sheet - and increasingly so in Zambia. But this is not a particularly Zambian malady: government everywhere always grows increasingly intolerant of criticism, be it from the media or from that product of western pluralism, the non-government organization. And one cannot cavil at the man who is the citizen's protector - the Minister of Justice, saying that there needs to be a legal framework in place for the protection of society from unregulated NGOs - some of them undoubtedly not of charitable intent. The Charities Commission in England oversee many thousands of NGOs, making sure that they serve society. It is a difficult job, and they have a legal framework, based - as is ours, on English Common Law. But they also protect NGOs from the Government.
Zambian NGOs clearly see the NGO Bill as a move by Government to stifle opposition to government policies and their implementation through Acts and Statutory Instruments, and as an instrument to divide and conquer the myriad groupings of charitable intent which might coalesce into hard political opposition. The Bill does of course not much consider the protection of the NGO from a Government, one that does not hesitate to order the OP surveillance team to keep a close watch on it. As Joyce MacMillan remarks, the restrictive definition of an NGO would pose a threat to those of us working in human rights, social and economic justice - if you are trying to do charitable works in a rural area, something impossible to avoid.
What this bill would deliver is the establishment of a Government controlled quango , yet another one, to oversee the common herd. By all means let us have a commission, but one appointed - unlike the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission, by civil society.
All free men and women need to restrict the powers of the elected government over them.
