In Summary
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".
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