PREAMBLE
The Council for NGOs in Malawi (CONGOMA), as an umbrella body of all NGOs in Malawi with the mandate to represent the collective interests and concerns of NGOs and advocate for their conducive environment, has noted with concern and wonder at the continued deliberate disregard of an injunction staying implementation of new fees.

1. FACTS OF THE MATTER
   The facts of the matter are that:
   1. Government through Ministry of Gender promulgated new NGO fees Regulations upon advice from NGO Board of Malawi in December 2017.
   2. These regulations were not gazetted before implementation on 1st January 2018
   3. The NGO Board members themselves were not gazetted by December 2017
   4. CONGOMA opted for dialogue with Government on the issues which did not yield desired results
   5. CONGOMA as last resort sought Court relief and was granted an injunction in April 2018 by the Zomba High Court staying implementation of new fees regulations until the same Court states otherwise
   6. Government applied for lifting of the injunction in May 2018 and a hearing on same was held on Tuesday 12 June 2018 but the Judge has not pronounced his judgement todate.
   7. Despite the stay order by the Zomba High Court, CONGOMA has received several complaints from its member NGOs complaining that NGO Board is implementing the stayed new fees Regulations by charging new fees.
2. CONGOMA POSITION
   With the foregoing, CONGOMA’s position is that:
   1. The injunction staying implementation of new NGO fees Regulations is still in force and must be obeyed by NGO Board and its agents without question.
   2. The injunction put the fees regime back to its original position before the Regulations i.e. status quo remains.
   3. NGOs paying to NGO Board should be allowed to pay old rates of fees without discrimination, favour, hide and seek and without politicking.
   4. NGOs that have been unlawfully charged new rates should be refunded with interest.
3. MESSAGE TO CONGOMA MEMBERS
   CONGOMA’s message to its members is:
   1. Demand from NGO Board of Malawi that you pay old rates of fees. Any refusal should be formally and properly documented.
   2. Report to CONGOMA any experiences you meet in the process of paying fees at NGO Board for collective redress.

CONCLUSION
CONGOMA as an umbrella body for NGOs values principles of partnership and complimentarity; contact, dialogue and mutual respect and transparency and accountability in its work with Government Ministries, Departments and agencies. As such, it is our expectation that the environment should be conducive for this to happen including adherence to set rules. In this regard, CONGOMA would like to acknowledge that most NGOs are struggling financially and that the level of fees hike by NGO Board is unsustainable.

Signed

Steven Duwa
CHAIRPERSON