budget

2011/12 BUDGET: Activists plead for reversal of taxing NGO's

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Monday, 13 June 2011 11:05

digg : As Tanzanians continue to ponder the 2011/2012 budget unveiled last Wednesday, worries have mounted over plans to tax the non-governmental organisations (NGOs). There had also been calls to trim the size of the government which, some analysts contend, was too big given the resources available to support it. Mr. Peter Ahham, a civil society activist based in Arusha, said plans to impose taxes on NGOs and other similar bodies would derail their support to community development. "Taxing the NGOs will be a misconception of the essence, reason and philosophy of their existence", he told The Citizen here on Friday, pleading for reversal of the plan. He said contrary to perceptions of some people, the civil society organisations were not there to make money and that whatever they get from donors was directly channeled to community projects. "If the government goes ahead with the proposal, then it will mean the essence of NGOs is not well understood by some technocrats in the government", he added. Mr. Ahham,the director of the Arusha-based Multi-Environmental Society (MESO), said funds channelled to the civil society groups from abroad is often raised by well wishers and charitable bodies. "These funds are primarily sent to support community projects. At the end of the day, there is no profit made or dividend shared", he noted in an interview. He argued technocrats in the government must appreciate the role of NGOs in advocacy, especially on matters touching development at grassroots levels and poverty alleviation. He said the role of the civil society organisations is well articulated in the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (Mkukuta) because the plan in focused on pro-poor strategies. The official wondered why the government was contemplating to tax the NGOs and yet continue to exempt corporate firms which rake millions of shillings a day in business operations. During his budget speech read before Parliament on Wednesday, the Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Mr. Mustafa Mkulo hinted that the government may impose taxes on NGOs. "But why exempt corporate firms and think of taxing the people's institutions?" he asked, pleading for the Minister to shelve the plan, citing cases where NGOs support the disabled through charities raised abroad or locally. Other officials of the civil society based in Arusha reached said the idea was not new as the suggestion had been made several times in the past by the government. They affirmed they would continue to opposed any move to impose taxation on their activities. However, many pleaded they were yet to get to the nitty-gritty of the new development from the recent Minister's speech. An NGOs are legally constituted organisations that operates independently outside the government. They have no government status although at times partially or totally funded by the state. Also known as civil society organisations, the term is usually applied to groups that pursue wider social aim that has political aspects. The number of NGOs operating in Tanzania can run into thousands but those registered under TANGO (Tanzania Association of NGOs) is said to be 632. Many of them operate in different categories such as education, health, environment, pastoralism, human rights, good governance as well as those registered as professional associations. Mr. John Bayo, the coordinator of ANGONET, an umbrella body of civil society groups based in Arusha, expressed his reservations when discussing the budget estimates. He agreed with Mr. Mkulo's plan to increase tax collections from the traditional and new sources of income in order to achieve the set targets in 2011/2012 fiscal year. However, he was pessimistic if the projections would be reached on the premise that tax collection and management was problematic in Tanzania. "We have a problem in collection of taxes as well as management" he told The Citizen in an exclusive interview on the recently announced budget estimates. He suggested the size of the government must be reduced to match with the available resources,saying there many ministers, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries and their deputies, among others. "This is truly a burden to the state coffers. We don't need such a big government which drains the little resources we have", he pointed out. He further suggested it was time the question of national debt is looked afresh and asked; "For how long have these debts accumulated and who was responsible. " Ms Charity Githinji, a sales and marketing manager with the Kibo Palace Hotel, implored on Tanzanians not to complain every time a budget is read. "For me the budget is good if it is implemented. It is focusing on the farmers especially on production of food to feed our population", she explained. She cited Mr. Mkulo's package to cut down government expenditure. "Basically that suggested reduction on cost of fuel that works perfectly well for us because generally production costs would go down". she said. But Mr. Andrew Malalika has some complaints to Minister Mkulo; the tourism and health sectors have not been given priority this time around as many had expected. "Tourism is booming yes. But it has to be sustained through aggressive marketing abroad", he said, citing the America market, now the leading source of tourists to Tanzania. Mr. Malalika, who is the director of Arusha-based Jackpot Tours and Safaris said the tourism sector should be given enough budget for tourism promotion and marketing. Ms Beatrice Mnzava and Joseph Mayagila, both Arusha residents, said they have full support of Minister Mkulo's proposals on how to address the rising fuel prices. They said for the first time, the government has shown it was serious with rural development by scrapping duties charged on tractors and other farm implements and inputs. The duo's remarks were supported by Mr Hussein Msokoto, the chairman of Mererani Town Council (CCM) in Simanjiro district, Manyara region, who said the budget focused on assisting the poor. But Fredy Kimambo, an entrepreneur at the famous tanzanite mining town contested that view, arguing the 2011/2012 budget estimates have not been geared to the welfare of the common man. "We are yet to see something done on the fuel prices which must be addressed immediately. This has not to wait till June 22nd", he stressed. Mr.Paulo Loboyo of Partimbo village in Kiteto District called on the government to create a conducive environment for investors to construct earthen dams for supply of water to livestock and people in the semi arid areas. But Mr. William Kivuyo, a programme officer with the Tanzania Intellectual Property Network (TIP - Net) said the budget read in Parliament on Wednesday was not very promising. "The easier-said-than-done phrase applies here. The Minister has made many promises but implementation is a different thing", he stated. Mr. Emmanuel Wangai, a businessman at Katesh in Hanang District, wondered why nearly one trillion shillings will be spent by the government in the 2011/2012 fiscal year on allowances. "This is not understandable. Why should so much money be used only for allowances?", he asked when reached on phone, adding that the minister has not been clear on when taxes on petroleum products would be scrapped. Mr Wilson Lehada Shilla, a programme manager for energy project based in Arusha, stated he would be surprised if  the MPs would approve this (one trillion shillings for allowances). "This must be opposed at all costs and the money should be diverted to development projects to change the lives of millions of poor and hungry Tanzanians", he pointed out. For his part Mr. Walter Maeda, director Golden Rose Hotels, Arusha had this to say on the one trillion shillings; "This is very shocking. And if this is the case, the common Tanzanians would not benefit at all from the so called measures aimed to address spiralling inflation."                   Edwin Ze great storm;       source; The citizen.