Advertisement

Jubilee should stop these petty attacks on civil society

Saturday October 22 2016

A supposed petition to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is circulated to the media. Some media houses (wisely) don’t publish it given concerns about verification, defamation and libel. Others do — without, however, the response of the Cabinet Secretary it ostensibly targets. Or the response of the Civil Society Organisations Reference Group, which is its real target.

The CSO Reference Group’s offense? Having sought, perfectly justifiably, to meet with the CS for Devolution and Planning to share its concerns about the non-commencement of the Public Benefits Organisation Act — assented to in 2013, almost four years ago! And the CS’s decision to do so, announcing the notice to commence on September 9.

The PBO Act is intended to usher in a new regulatory framework for civil society. Currently it is regulated under a host of different Acts, the most oppressive of which has become the Non-Governmental Organisations Act, whose NGO Co-ordination Board has become the means through which the Jubilants penalise civil society for standing up for constitutionalism and the rule of law.

Think, for example, of Jubilee’s current zeal in denying registrations and entry/work permits for regional and international NGOs active in Kenya. The lack of operationalisation of the PBO Act has created legal uncertainty, with the NGO Co-ordination Board now applying whatever provisions of whatever law it deems fit for the oppressive occasion.

It has allowed for delayed, inconsistent and unfair administrative action with respect to registration, compliance and entry/work permits, including regional NGOs hiring regional staff – in the era of regional integration, in which the Jubilants are actively seeking to enable Kenyan staff to work across the region.

Read against the court order obtained preventing publication of the PBO Act further to the CS’s announcement of its commencement, it hard not to speculate as to the true source and intent of the petition.

Advertisement

Which is, it seems, to further delegitimise civil society. And ensure the new regulatory framework created by the PBO Act never comes into effect.

Something needs to give. Somebody responsible needs to cease and desist. Civil society is a channel for substantial forex inflows into the country — not just for economic, political and social programmes but also benefiting the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Kenyan businesses it banks with and obtains services from.

Civil society is also a substantial employer in the country. At its best, it is a platform for civic organising as both a reactive check on government excesses and a proactive source of public policy ideas. It consolidates the image of Kenya as a regional and international hub.

The NGO Act—and the NGO Coordination Board it establishes—needs to go. The PBO Act needs to come in—together with the new PBO Authority it establishes. To reset the state/civil society relationship. And end this petty war by attrition.

L. Muthoni Wanyeki is Amnesty International’s regional director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes

Advertisement