The Executive Director of the Hope for Future Generations, (HFFG), an NGO, Ms. Cecilia Senoo has appealed to government to as a matter of urgency enact laws that will regulate the registration of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country.
This, according to her, will help prevent charlatans from getting on board the charity work and also aid government to track the performance of NGOs contributing positively to the development of the country.
Ms. Cecilia Senoo made the appeal during a panel discussion at the just ended 2017 National Philanthropy Forum held at the Accra International Conference Centre.
The National Philanthropy Forum is an event held annually to bring together various stakeholders in the humanitarian sector to dialogue on key issues confronting the non-profit sector with the aim of forging better ways towards effective delivery of philanthropic services in the country.
Ghanaians are confronted daily with myriad of challenges which requires the support of both local and foreign benevolent organizations since government alone cannot provide solution to those problems. Unfortunately most NGOs in the country today have failed to live up to expectation due to a number of factors.
But brainstorming on how to remedy the situation at the forum, Ms. Cecilia Senoo who doubles as the National Vice Chairperson for the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health said it would require strong commitment on part of government through implementation of rigorous regulation procedures to ward off charlatans who are venturing into the NGO sector.
“There are lots of NGOs that are not credible in this country. I’m part of NGO so I know what I’m talking about. So many of them are just ‘one-man’ NGOs; the director, the accountant and the program manager, virtually one man doing everything…So the regulation of registration of NGOs should be key to government to be able to track everybody’s performance,” she advised.
Juxtaposing Ghana’s situation to that of Tanzania, Ms. Cecilia Senoo who is also a strong human rights and gender advocate with over 30 years experience working in the NGO sector was vociferous on the fact that careful procedures are heeded whiles registering an NGO including a proper background check and being sure that the owner is not on a government payroll “so you don’t take money from government and money from NGO and you hide”.
She described the move as the best practices adopted by the Tanzania government which has led to the country having very credible limited NGOs that are well monitored contributing to the development of their country.
The two-day National Philanthropy Forum adjudged Nathan Kwabena Anokye-Adisi, aka Bola Ray as the Philanthropist of the Year whiles Professor Oheneba Boachie-Adjei was declared the Philanthropist of the year for Special Needs. Other award winners are Dr. Osei-Kusi of Osei Kusi Foundation; Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation, Corporate Foundation of the Year; Humanitarian Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on Father Campbell and MTN Ghana Foundation had the Corporate Philanthropist of the Year.
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