Interior minister Fred Matiang’i instructed Fazul Mahamed, the head of the NGOs Coordination Board, to suspend action against the organisations for up to 90 days while talks with the government are held.
The government on Wednesday ordered the suspension of moves to shut down the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG).
Interior minister Fred Matiang’i instructed Fazul Mahamed, the head of the Non-government Organisation Coordination Board, to suspend action against the organisations for up to 90 days while talks with the government are held.
This directive came after the police and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) authorities raided AfriCOG, one of the organisations that regularly highlighted the problems with preparations for the August 8 vote.
President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared winner of the election by a margin of 1.4 million votes, but opposition leader Raila Odinga said yesterday he will challenge the results at the Supreme Court.
Dr Matiang’i 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”.
“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,” Mr Matiang’i said in a letter sent early Wednesday.
He said the engagements would include the opportunity for the organisations and any stakeholders concerned to engage with the NGOs Coordinating Board and effectively address any outstanding non-compliance issues that may lead to deregistration.
The letter was sent as KRA officials raided the AfriCOG offices in Lavington, Nairobi.
