By Aliko Munde
District Commissioner (DC), Frank Mkandawire has asked civil society organisations (CSOs) that are working in the district to register saying that the district council will not recognise and work with unregistered CSOs in the district.
Mkandawire said this on Thursday during a stakeholders meeting the District Council organised.
Mkandawire said it is a law that all CSOs and non-governmental organisations register with the Non-Governmental Organisation Regulatory Authority (NGORA) to work in the country.
“We are going to recognise and work with civil society organisations that are registered. We do not want CSOs that want competition but rather complement government efforts,” Mkandawire said.
Mkandawire said that CSOs and District Council are family and they need to work together to develop the district.
Chitipa CSO Network Chairperson, Patrick Ziba, thanked the district council for organising the stakeholders meeting, which he said is a step in the right direction.
Ziba concurred with the District Council that only registered CSOs should be recognised.
He said that the district used to have 80 CSOs, but now they have 32 because they flushed out non-registered CSOs.
“We are a family and we need to work as a team. As CSOs, we cannot be in a district and implement activities without the district council. We complement government efforts in our interventions,” Ziba said.
