The Society for Democratic Initiatives (SDI) held a one day dialogue session on the Non Governmental Organization policy that government has drafted. It was an interactive forum attended by prominent Civil Society Groups in the country and the media.
In his presentation, one of the civil organization activists Mr. Fallah traced the history of civil organizations in Sierra Leone in which he mentioned the role of Christian organizations acting as strong agents to hold government accountable. He stated that the same methodology can be implemented amongst civil society organizations to ensure most of the laws formulated that are deterrent measures against the effective operations of NGOs. He highlighted series of articles codified in various charters ranging from the AU and the constitution of Sierra Leone, which spell out clauses that expresses the right to belong to association (s) without hindrance.
They include Article 26 (1) of the constitution of Sierra Leone and Article 10 (2) of the African Charter and series of others which Sierra Leone has acceded to. He also highlighted that any matter contrary to the constitution is null and void adding that as citizens they are at liberty to amend if not repeal clauses that are detrimental to the well being of the state.
He further mentioned that governments take the disunity inherent in Civil Society Organizations as a yardstick to crumple upon them and mostly refer to CSOs as “fragmented, weak and disorganized’’. He therefore mentioned that CSOs should not be seen as instruments promoting political agenda and for personal aggrandizement but as a strong force working towards promoting the agenda for Freedom of Information for instance, and raising concerns on issues affecting the lives of the masses.
The Executive Director of Society for Democratic Initiative Emmanuel S. Abdulai highlighted series of legal barriers initiated by governments that militate against the operations of NGOs. He said that these barriers are formulated through different angles amongst which are: barrier to enter civic space, barrier to operational activity, limits on speech and advocacy, barrier to contact and communication and barrier to resources.
In addition, he mentioned several rigmaroles in setting up NGOs and their operations and administration, all in an effort to screw up the corporate responsibility(s) of CSOs. He referred to some of these processes such as the re-registration of NGOs as “unnecessary”. He called on all NGOs to be objective and accountable in their activities so that their roles in society could be justified.
Suggestions were raised amongst participants, mostly representatives from various NGOs around the country on the way forward to achieving their set objective.
By Poindexter Sama
ADVERTISEMENT