Board to de-register NGOs involved in shoddy deals

NGO Coordination Chief Executive Officer Gichira Kibara. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Some non-governmental organisations involved in dirty deals in the country will be de-registered.

This was approved during a Wednesday meeting in Nairobi between NGOs Coordination Board and some stakeholders on compliance.

“The board wants to ensure that we have the right people doing the right things, there are quite a number of NGOs that we can’t trace what they are doing,” the board chairman Mwambu Mabonga said.

NGO Coordination Board argues that such organisations evade registration so as to engage in dubious deals including money laundering and human trafficking in the country.

And now, the board is activating various government agencies across the country to flush out such organisations that are yet to comply with laws and regulations.

“We have to know how they are doing their things in different areas, all of them have to comply with government directives so we see what they are doing,” he added.

He warned that organisations that are not ready to comply with government regulations will be deregistered.

“As the board, we have the representatives of the council so we have given instructions to engage the members to ensure that everything is vibrant,” the chairman said.

The board said the sector injects about Sh200 billions into the economy.

“That is why we are serious about enforcing compliance,” Mabonga said.

NGO Coordination Chief Executive Officer Gichira Kibara noted that the country and the world at large experiences challenges including terrorism financing, money laundering, human trafficking, and fraudsters.

Kibara said some agencies are using NGOs to carry out their activities.

“Some of them try to hide that is why the government and the board is insisting that every NGO in the country must comply with NGO regulations and rules,” the CEO said.

“We gave them notice on December 18, 2023 and the grace period is over and we are now compiling the list of non-compliant NGO’s and if they don’t comply the other option that we were going to do is to de-register them," he added.

Kibara however said there are fully compliant NGO’s that abide by government laws and regulations and are providing services without engaging in dirty deals.

Currently the board under the Ministry of Interior and National Administration noted that there are 12,162 registered NGOs of which 2,468 have since been de-registered.

Some of the board’s functions include maintaining a register on national NGOs operating in Kenya, advising the government on the activities of such organisations and regular review of the register among other issues.