PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has issued ten directives to be jointly implemented by various Ministries and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOS) for effective attainment of desirable transformations in all aspects.
Among the instructions are for the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups to ensure all the NGOs in the country are adhering to the laws of the land.
The Premier issued the directives on Tuesday in Dodoma, when gracing the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the National Council of NGOs (NaCoNGO), where he assured of the government’s commitment to continue working together with the NGOs for national interest.
He also tasked ministries and local government authorities to monitor execution of projects being implemented through funds secured by NGOs.
“This has to be done for the sake of tracing whether the funds serve the intended purpose,” he said, asking the NGOs to come up with sustainable projects for income generation in order to reduce dependence from donors.
Mr Majaliwa also instructed for the enhanced cooperation between the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Regional secretariat, private sector and NGOs for proper coordination of services that are being provided.
Moreover, the Prime Minister asked the NGOs to focus on needy areas including rural settings instead of remaining in urban areas only.
“Relevant ministries, regional and district authorities should ensure that all NGOs operate by serving the purpose of their registrations and national priorities,” said Mr Majaliwa.
According to him, there is a need to also ensure the national strategy for NGOs sustainability works on implementing the directives that President Samia Suluhu Hassan issued in September last year.
During her speech in the event that was held at the Dodoma’s Jakaya Kikwete International Convention Centre (JKCC) in Dodoma, President Samia called for the need of the NGOS to link their plans to government priorities as indicated in the national development plans.
This, according to her, will make all the NGOs sustainable and their existing meaning.
Mr Majaliwa also called on the kickoff of review of the NGOs policy of 2001 for the sake of updating laws, rules and guidelines governing operations of the non-governmental organizations.
“It’s important to ensure national strategies for developing the NGOs are fully translated to Kiswahili language for the sake of enabling all stakeholders to have a greater understanding of the policy,” instructed the Prime Minister.
He went on to instruct all the NGOs to have proper communication strategy with the government in their respective areas and ensure timely accessibility to correct information on what is being done.
The government is recognising the role of NGOs in pushing forward social and economic development in various sectors such as education, water, health, tourism and agriculture.
He said, apart from supporting economic development in the country, NGOs have also been playing a role in linking Tanzania and development partners from various countries.
Going by the report of performance for the 2021, revenue of 939 NGOs was recorded at 1.1tri/-, while their speeding was accounted for at 900bn/-.
The spending of the NGOs for the last year, according to the report was channeled to capacity building programmes, health, education, heath, community development, administration, environment, agriculture, human rights, water, gender, energy and industrial sector.
The NGOs also created a total of 14,029, for which, 8,149 were Tanzanians and 121 foreigners. Also there were 5759 volunteers.