By Salome Gangire                                                                        

Neno, February 28, Mana: Neno District Commissioner (DC) Rosemary Nawasha has asked Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in the district to share their work plans with the council for easy monitoring of their projects.

Nawasha made the call on Tuesday when she met with the CSOs working in the district.

“The council’s expectation is that you should be sharing working plans and budgets with the council and share quarterly progress reports so that the council should be aware of what is happening on the ground and, similarly, the council will also be sharing its budget and progress reports so that you also monitor us,” she told the representatives of the CSOs.

The DC therefore encouraged the CSOs to register with Non-Governmental Organisation Regulatory Board (NGORA) as government encourages councils to only accept NGOs that are registered with the authority to work in districts.

She added that the CSOs also need to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the council so that they complement one another.

Nawasha said the council also expects NGOs to implement projects based on the District Development Plan (DDP) and Social Economic Profile (SEP), as it outlines needs of the communities.

“I am also imploring NGOs to be implementing flagship projects, as this is what government is advocating. For example, if you’re building a school block, build also teachers houses plus Water, Sanitation and Hygiene facilities for leaners as a full package that should have an impact,” she said.

Nawasha added that Neno District Council expects that at the end of projects, NGOs should hand over project assets to the council so that there should be continuation of programmes even if the project phases out.

Director of Planning and Development (DPD), Charles Lomoni, emphasised the need for all NGOs working in the district to register with NGORA, saying non-registered organisations were operating in the district illegally.

Chairperson for Neno CSOs, Samson Njolomole, concurred with the DC, saying all CSOs working in the district need to sign MOUs, saying it becomes difficult to evaluate impact of projects that are implemented by NGOs that have not signed MOUs with the district council.