1. Background
An individual desiring to conduct non-government organisation work in Uganda may do so either by registering an indigenous NGO or international NGO. This article will take stock of the requirements, stages, steps, fees requirements and all practical approaches involved in registering an indigenous NGO in Uganda.
Upon a successful process, the intending NGO is issued with a certificate of registration and permit of operation following payment of the requisite fees.
The registration and management of Non-Governmental Organisations in Uganda is regulated by the Non-Governmental Organisations Act, 2006 and regulations made there under, and the implementing ministry is the ministry of internal affairs.
2.0 Incorporation of a Company limited by guarantee
The first stage for registering an indigenous NGO is to incorporate a Company limited by guarantee. The consultant handling the preparation of the memorandum and articles of association (M&AOA) must ensure that the organisation structure should reflect the powers of the General assembly AGM over the Board. The AGM should be reflected as the supreme authority and the board should be appointed by and subordinate to or answerable to the AGM. The M&AOA should also contain a dissolution clause to the effect that it is initiated by a special resolution of the AGM, quorum and assets to be distributed to other organisations with similar objectives or charity.
If the above key requirements are not catered for adequately by the handling consultant, there will be a requirement to amend the M&AOA before being considered for a certificate of registration and permit issued to operate. To avoid unnecessary and lengthy amendments, this requirement should be addressed at documents preparation stage before submission to the Uganda Registration services bureau for Company incorporation.
3.0 Requirements for obtaining clearance from district of operation
Prior to commencing the process for registration of an NGO, the founder members must identify a district of operation in Uganda. Consequently, the members will prepare a file containing certified Company documents together with identification documents for all the founder members. Some districts may require preparation and execution of a memorandum of understanding between the intending NGO and the District. This said memorandum spells out the objectives of the NGO and how they align with the needs of the district and how the NGO intends to attend to specific needs.
The above file will be taken to the following offices to seek recommendation. 1. Office of LC one, 2. Office of the LC two, 3. Office of the LC three, 4. Resident District Commissioner and 6. Chief Administrative officer. Upon obtaining the above recommendations, the file is tabled before the District NGO monitoring committee for evaluation and final recommendation is issued which is attached to documents before being forwarded to the responsible ministry for perusal and approval.
4.0 Requirements for obtaining clearance from Responsible Ministry
Upon satisfying the district requirements, the consultant should now prepare a file for evaluation by the responsible ministry. The responsible ministry depends on the nature of activities to be conducted by the intending NGO. For example, if the NGO will deal in areas of educational services, then the responsible ministry is the Ministry for education and sports whereas if the NGO intends to deal in Health, then the responsible ministry should be the ministry for health. If the NGO intends to deal in a cocktail of community changing activities that may be difficult to place in a specialised ministry, one then should opt for the Ministry for Gender, Labour and social development.
The file to the ministry should contain all company documents, Identification documents for all directors/founder members, Tax identification Numbers for all directors and all District recommendations obtained.
Upon receiving the file, the Ministry evaluates the file on strength of its Directors, company documents and recommendations from the hosting district. The Ministry may request for more information should it deem it necessary to do so. The Ministry will then issue a recommendation of the Company to the National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organisations for issuance of a registration certificate and permit of operation.
5.0 Requirements for obtaining Certificate and permit from NGO Bureau
Upon obtaining the line ministry’s approval, the consultant should put together the following documents for submission at the National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organisations currently housed under the Ministry of internal affairs. The documents include;
5.1 Forms A and D.
Form A emanating from Regulation 4 is the application for registration and should indicate all directors of the Organisation and all their addresses, objectives of the organisation, location of organisation and source of funding of the intending NGO activities. Similarly, file will also contain form D which is essentially an application for the permit of operation addressed to the Executive Director of the NGO Bureau. This form will also list the objectives of the organisation and include the staffing structure as well as the desired period of operation. Both these forms are signed by the directors/founder members whose photographs are also attached.
5.2 A letter requesting for registration and permit
A letter signed by the founder members or someone authorised to act on their behalf is required to be submitted. It will spell out the objectives, area of operation and period applied for not exceeding 5(five).
5.3 Certified Copies of Certificate of Incorporation
The file will also include certified copies of the certificate of incorporation. Certification of these certificates is also done by the issuing authority which is the Uganda Registration services bureau (URSB).
5.4 Annual work plan and budget
The NGO bureau anticipates that by the time one applies for the permit to operate, they should have a budget and work plan in place that they intend to implement. These should cover the period applied for and should be detailed enough to include the activities that the intending NGO intends to indulge. The more the details provided to the bureau, the more likely that no more requests for information will be initiated.
5.5 Registered Memorandum and articles of association
Include in the file the Memorandum and article of association which was submitted and registered with URSB. The bureau will be interested in confirming that the said M&AOA includes a clause on quorum to pass a resolution for winding up and how organisation assets will be handled upon winding up.
5.6 Governance structure
The chart indicating the governance structure of the NGO Must also be submitted. The bureau believes that the performance of the NGO is hinged on its governing structure and may advise some changes to the structure should if find that the structure proposed is not likely to enable good governance.
5.7 Proof of payment of prescribed fees
At the time of writing this article, the rules required that every intending Local NGO pays Ugx 100,000/= (one hundred thousand) for the certificate of registration and Ugx 60,000/= (Sixty thousand) per year for the NGO permit of operation. This money is paid upon assessment into the bank and receipts attached on to the file to be submitted to the Bureau for assessment.
5.8 A statement indicating source of funding
A statement is required which should indicate the source of funding of the NGO. This statement is signed by the founder members and it is meant to confirm that the source of funding is legitimate and in line with the Country’s financial integrity protocols.
5.9 Copies of valid identification for Founder members
All founder members must submit copies of their valid identification. Valid identification connotes either their National Identity cards or valid passport.
5.10 Copy of minutes, attendance list and resolution
For any organisation to be issued with a permit to operate, it must have convened a company meeting and resolved to register with the NGO bureau. Confirmation of this fact is through submission of minutes, attendance list and resolution. The said resolution must be registered with Uganda Registration services bureau to be acceptable.
5.11 Recommendation from the District
Attach a recommendation from the district where the NGO will operate to confirm that the local authorities welcome the intended NGO activities. This recommendation is issued by the District Non-Governmental Organisation Monitoring Committee
5.12 Recommendation from the line ministry
The recommendation from the line ministry is also required and annexed to the file before submission. It is important to note that upon issuance of the permit, all new NGO’s are required to process and file a certificate from the date protection office.
6.0 Conclusion
With good paperwork, the process for registration of NGO’s can be seamless. Importantly however, continued compliance is crucial as the bureau may decline renewal of permit should it find that the NGO did not comply with any of the permit conditions.
