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Zambia mulls revising NGO law

Xinhua, November 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Zambian government is considering revising a controversial law that governs the operations of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), a top official said Wednesday.

NGO registrar Stanford Michelo said the government was in the process of revising the NGO Act of 2009 to enhance the operations of civil society organizations.

He said on a live interview on state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, that the organizations complained that the law's provisions were too punitive.

The enactment of the law sparked a heated debate in the country as stakeholders felt it was meant to suffocate their operations.

The organizations opposed being registered under a government-appointed Non-Governmental Organizations' Registration Board.

They felt that being registered under a law will give the board powers to de-register any organization the government was not comfortable with.

But the registrar said over 600 organizations have so far registered with the board.

He said the registration of the NGOs was aimed at coordinating their operations to avoid duplication of their activities. Endit