PAC risks deregistration as NGORA disowns quasi-religious body

The Non-Governmental Organisations Regulatory Authority (NGORA) says it cannot establish whether the tenure of the current Public Affairs Committee (PAC) board has expired, because the group has not updated its annual reports.

NGORA spokesperson Laston Chinkudzu said PAC is among the NGOs that have failed to comply with annual reporting requirements.

Those returns contain information on board members and their positions, he said.

“According to NGORA’s records, PAC is among the NGOs that have not complied with annual reporting requirements. As a result, it has not updated its annual returns, which contain information on its board members. Therefore, NGORA is not in a position to confirm the current tenure of its members,” he said.

NGORA said any fresh elections would be governed by PAC’s constitution and internal arrangements. It added that its mandate does not extend to running the internal affairs of individual organisations, although it promotes accountability and good governance across the sector.

Last financial year, it said, it reached more than 556 NGO board members and directors through capacity-building initiatives.

PAC Executive Director Robert Phiri has not responded to the questionnaire despite reminders.

Political scientist Dr George Chaima said the failure to file returns was “a compliance and transparency failure” that left even the regulator unable to verify who legally holds office.

He said PAC’s executive was elected in December 2019 for a three-year term that expired in December 2022, and that the leadership has continued in post.

Chaima said the group’s reliance on Article 15.4 of its constitution, which provides for leadership continuity, raised questions about the legitimacy of its leaders and their decisions.

He argued that this weakened PAC’s standing to criticise political parties over undemocratic succession, and that it strained accountability to its mother bodies: the Malawi Conference of Catholic Bishops (MCCB), the Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM), the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM), the Quadria Muslim Association of Malawi (QMAM) and the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC).

He recommended that PAC file its outstanding returns with NGORA immediately and set a date for its Annual General Meeting within 90 days.

In the longer term, he proposed limiting Article 15.4 to a maximum of 12 months, letting the mother bodies run an independent electoral process, and separating constitutional review from leadership elections.

He also called for annual external governance audits.

“PAC is not just an ordinary NGO. It is the one which championed third-termism, and it cannot violate the same principles it challenged before,” Chaima said.

“Whatever the case, a continuity clause cannot replace a fresh mandate. PAC needs urgent leadership renewal to protect its credibility,” he added.