Towards a Narrow Bridge: A Critical Overview of the Operating Environment for Civil Society Organisations in Uganda

Abstract

Civil society plays an important role in checking government excesses. It is necessary for accountable and transparent governance. Nevertheless, the environment in which civil so-ciety operates across the globe is constantly shrinking. This paper provides for a brief histo-ry of stages of development of civil society in Uganda and a brief outline of the numbers of civil society organisations from inception. The paper asserts that the factors affecting the operating environment for civil society are both external and internal. The external factors include: perception of civil society as partisan, restrictive legal environment which mainly consists of the Non-Governmental Organisations Act, 2016, the Public Order Management Act, 2013, the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2005 as amended 2015, the Anti-Pornography Act, 2014, the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2014; security and safety; reliance on donor fun-ding and ignorance of the public due to information gaps. The internal factors include: non-compliance with legal requirements and internal governance issues. The paper concludes that civil society is partly to blame for the shrinking Civil Society Organisations (CSO) space. Finally, the paper notes that for civil society to survive amidst the shrinking political and civic space, capacity development as well as compliance with the laws by CSOs is ne-cessary if they are cope with the emerging security threats. Further, there must be adoption and strengthening of security, cooperation and solidarity, delving into alternative sources of funding, co-operating with government and efforts geared towards amendment of restrictive legislation.