CSO Week Habari. Hon. Peter Serukamba, Member of Parliament. Parliamentary Committee Chair responsible for Social Services and Community Development

Transcription

1 CSO Week Habari Industrialization Drive In Tanzania: People, Policy And Practice. Issue No. 02 CSO E-Newsletter 24 th October 2018 Parliamentary Committee Chair responsible for Social Services and Community Development The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Services and Community Development Hon. Peter Serukamba (fifth from right), MP Hon. Vicky Kamata Likwelile (fifth from left) and MP Hon. Zitto Kabwe (fourth from left) with the Executive Director of FCS Mr. Francis Kiwanga (fourth from right) in a group photo with participants of the CSO Week Hon. Peter Serukamba, Member of Parliament of Kigoma North and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Services and Community Development participated in the Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Week yesterday, currently taking place in Dodoma from the 22 nd to 26 th October. Hon. Serukamba s was also accompanied by two members of the committee, Hon. Vicky Kamata Likwelile, Special Seats Member of Parliament for Geita region, and Hon. Zitto Kabwe, Member of Parliament for Kigoma Urban. During his visit, Hon. Serukamba toured the colourful exhibition and participated in a panel discussion on The promotion of health, education and access to clean safe water, experience of CSO s in Tanzania. In the discussion, Hon. Serukamba acknowledged the role that CSO s play as the third eye to the government, offering their opinions and criticism over different development issues going on in the country. Our committee has enjoyed cordial relations with CSO s for a very long time. We have welcomed the advice and opinions of CSO s countless times, because we strongly believe that they are a very useful tool in informing us on what is really happening in the grassroot communities. Speaking on the education sector, Hon. Serukamba said that it is important for the government to consider reviewing the current education policy. We have asked the government many times to review the education policy. Because, as a committee we believe that once you have done your research, the government will have the right knowledge and be more informed to make the appropriate changes in the sector, he said. He added, Make no mistake, the investment that the government is making in education is huge. But is it channelling the investment into the right areas? CSO s, you have a role to play. We should all raise our voices. While visiting the CSO s pavilions, Hon. Zitto Kabwe and Hon. Vicky Kamata Likwelile also praised the CSO s for the programmes that they have so far implemented and continue to carry out in bringing socio-economic change to people, most especially marginalized communities. In partnership with : SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AGENCY

2 Contributors of the Enhancing good governance through Social Accountability Monitoring coordinated by Policy Forum. Make room to evaluate public programmes, CSO s advised We use a lot of time implementing public programmes but not enough time to monitor and evaluate them, said Mr. Semkae Kilonzo, Coordinator at Policy Forum during the opening of the Enhancing good governance through Social Accountability Monitoring break out session yesterday. According to Mr. Kilonzo, the main objectives of the session included to share Social Accountability Approaches including experiences and lessons learned, to discuss how best to adopt SAM to suit CSOs contexts, and how can CSOs and government collaborate to enhance good governance and accountability in the nation. Reminding participants on the advantages of monitoring public programmes, the Board Chairperson of Policy Forum, Mr. Japhet Makongo also said that, Monitoring is a process. But a process must bring about results. And in this context, what do we really want to achieve in Social Accountability Monitoring? According to Mr. Makongo, the aim of SAM is to obtain good social services, insisting that as CSO s, we have to inculcate the spirit of accountability among our peers and beneficiaries as a whole. However, implementing SAM, has not always been so rosy. Mr. Mika Wanene, a representative from Mwanza Policy Initiative said that Social Accountability started with fear. Because it seemed that CSO s were digging into government internal issues. But the government later understood the role of Social Accountability in the country, and has since eased tensions and more people feel like they can hold relevant authorities accountable. We have nothing to fear because as citizens, they pay tax. They therefore have the right to demand for social services, be it water or medical aide, etc. It is our responsibility then as CSO s to make sure that we are following closely the process to determine the level of impact Social Accountability has on bringing about good governance, said Wanene. However, participants did acknowledge that among the challenges facing CSO s include not having the technical know-how to undergo a keen assessment. Mrs. Mary Rusimbi, the Executive Director of Tanzania Women Fund (TWF) and Member of FCS shares her thoughts during the forum. 2 CSO Week Habari

3 CSO s call for further tax relief Participants from different CSO s across Tanzania taking part in the session on Tax accountability. 400 Civil Society Organizations gathering for the CSO Week 2018 in Dodoma have called upon government authorities to ease the tax levied on their organizations in order to improve the degree of service delivery to communities in need. This was aired during a dialogue on Tax accountability for CSOs in Tanzania where a number of CSO s said that it is particularly difficult for them to access the Charitable status certificate, which categorically gives more leeway for organizations who have acquired it to be exempt from income tax and conditions, accumulation of income and conditions, exempted from capital gains, gifts and bequests, to mention a few. Speaking under the condition of anonymity with our CSO Week Habari reporter, one CSO director said that the achievement of a Charitable status certificate offers a larger scope for NGO s to allocate more funds to development-based projects. We are also living in an era where funding for CSO s is fluctuating and becoming more difficult to find. The attainment of the Charitable status certificate can therefore ease this factor by giving CSO s the opportunity to better allocate their limited resources in areas such as health and education. According to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) Practice Note No. 03/2004 the conditions for application needs the CSO to be: one, a resident in Tanzania and of public character. Two, established and functions solely as an organisation for the relief of poverty or distress of the public, for advancement of education, or the provision of general public health, education, water or road construction or maintenance. Three, to be issued with a ruling by the Commissioner under the Act stating that it is a charitable organisation. The mentioned qualifications are somehow vague in the sense that you will find organizations with the same stated characteristics, the regulating authority will award one but deny the other. For instance, what does the authority consider when it is talking about CSO s that relieve the public out of poverty? How will a CSO dealing with just providing financial awareness compare to a CSO which is facilitating soft loans or grants? Will the competition level be the same? probed Nsanyiwa, adding that transparency in the process is also another challenge. Mr. Nsanyiwa therefore advised for a new and specific tax law for CSO s to be put forward for discussion by the government and NGO s, so as to address the existing gaps on levies against CSO s. A Senior Tax Advisory Manager from KPMG, Mr. Donald Nsanyiwa, who was a guest speaker at the dialogue agreed that the process to attain a Charitable status certificate for CSO s in the country is not so clear. CSO Week Habari 3

4 More inclusiveness needed to realize Tanzania s Industrialization agenda Above: Panellists of the Accountability: A necessary prerequisite in the country s Industrialization agenda dialogue follow up on the discussion. Below: Mr. Aidan Eyakuze the moderator of the discussion makes his contribution. T he government has been advised to engage citizens more closely in its quest to industrialize the economy and achieving middle-income country status by Speaking during the Accountability: A necessary prerequisite in the country s industrialization agenda dialogue at the ongoing CSO Week in Dodoma yesterday, Mr. Joseph Butiku, the Executive Director of the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation said that citizens do not to have enough information on the industrialization agenda that the government is currently implementing, thus being unable to effectively participate in its realization. Citizens must be involved in the process. The government must make the relevant information easily accessible to the people, so that people can understand and know where and how to contribute towards the cause, said Mr. Butiku, who is also a former aide of Mwalimu Nyerere. According to Mr. Butiku, if enough awareness is given to the people, then the people themselves can choose what types of industries they would like to establish according to the context of their communities. In support of this, Mr. Aidan Eyakuze, Executive Director of Twaweza and who was the moderator for the particular session said that there is serious lack of awareness on major important documents such as the National Five-Year Development Plan 2016/17 to 2020/21 and the industrial policy itself. There is a need for an urgent assessment of the industrial policy. To see how different groups fit in. For instance, to explore the relationship between largescale and small-scale farmers and industries. How women can play a role in the whole issue of industrialization. How do we expect Tanzania to meet the 7-year deadline in 2025, if the majority of people are left behind? said Mr. Butiku. Apart from that, Mr. Butiku also advised the ministry of Industry, trade and investment to make copies of the industrial policy available to CSO s, so that they in return can educate grassroot communities about it. 4 CSO Week Habari

5 Works to promote widow s rights and fight against stigmatization of widows Has reached more than 5000 widows since its inception in 2014 Facilitated medical check-up for 500 widows in the area of non-communicable diseases Secured 50 acres of land and number of sewing machines as part of their widow economic empowerment programme Founded more than 50 savings and credit cooperative organizations for women to practise savings and have easier access to capital Provides legal aid for widows undergoing inheritance claims Challenges facing CSO s today Being misunderstood by authorities Agenda being hijacked or swallowed into other misleading agenda s Lack of sufficient internal sources of funding Decline of international funding Relevant bodies not ready to embrace research results which are criticizing in nature CSO Week Habari 5

6 CSO week 2018 Industrialization Drive In Tanzania: People, Policy And Practice CSO WEEK IN PICTURES 6 CSO Week Habari

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