Kenyan minister Fred Matiang’i suspends action against two NGOs
Wednesday August 16 2017
Kenya's acting Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has directed the NGOs Coordination Board to suspend any actions against two rights organisations it is seeking to deregister pending investigations.
The two organisations are the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG).
Dr Matiang’i also directed Interior Principal Secretary to “immediately form an inclusive and representative committee to work with the board to review the compliance status of the two organisations”.
In a letter to Fazul Mohamed, the NGOs Coordination Board executive director, the minister said he had engaged in correspondence with the NGOs.
Deregistration
“While the correspondence contains weighty legal non-compliance and regulatory issues on the said organisations, my view is that before conclusive and final action such as deregistration, comprehensive and exhaustive engagements have to happen,” Dr Matiang’i said in the letter sent early Wednesday.
He said the engagements would include the opportunity for the organisations and any stakeholders concerned to engage with the Board and effectively address any outstanding non-compliance issues.
Raid
The letter was sent as police and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials raided the AfriCOG offices in Nairobi. The officers were however denied entry over concerns that the court order they had was illegal.
AfriCOG lawyer Harun Ndubi alleged that the officials had a fake or carelessly done affidavit.
The raid came two days after the NGOs Coordination Board de-listed KHRC, accusing the rights watchdog of failing to pay taxes, illegally employing expats and running illegal bank accounts. The next day, Mr Mohamed wrote to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations asking it to shut down AfriCOG and arrest the directors for allegedly operating without registration.
Criticised
The United Nations and Amnesty International separately criticised the move, calling for civil society to be allowed to work without hindrance or "witch-hunt".