MANY NGO CONSTITUTIONS ARE WANTING

I have had opportunity to read through some NGO Constitutions of NGOs registered in Uganda, and I have been able to note a number of things. These constitutions have come to me when the owners want assistance to have a project proposal done for them or other technical advice. It is not unusual to find a constitution where the NGO objectives are listed like the case of a Limited Liability Company. I have come across constitutions which have no mention of a seal anywhere in the document. There are constitutions where there is no mention of the Board of Trustees and the role they are supposed to play. Some constitutions have nothing like a secretariat in the document. Others have the Board members playing the role of the secretariat. You find constitutions where the logo, the bankers, the mission and vision statements as well as fees are included as constitutional matters. Some constitutions don't have the categories of those who should sign the financial statements. The above irregularities are able to go unnoticed simply because the NGO Board does not have to time and or resources to scrutinize each of the constitutions, though they should before the registration is completed. William Kituuka Kiwanuka