Ms. Daisy Amdany spoke during the International Women’s Day event dubbed, ‘Women Must Lead’ at Signature Auditorium in Nairobi. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

The civil society through governance expert and civil rights activist, Daisy Amdany, has called for funding from the government.

Speaking during a breakfast meeting organised by the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG), Amdany also pointed out the need for the State to recognise the role of civil societies in governance.

“The State has a responsibility in recognising the role that civil societies play and should actively look at ways of funding those organisations,” said Amdany, Executive Director Crawn Trust.

The forum brought together members of the public, the media, civil society organisations and key duty bearers to discuss the level of preparedness ahead of the elections.

Amdany raised concerns on donor dependency within civil society organisations, citing various challenges that come with donor funding being the only resource. 

READ MORE

 Wetangula calls on Judiciary and Civil Society to be fair when dealing with Parliament

 Civic freedom erodes amid crackdown on protesters, report says

 Human rights groups raise alarm over escalating human rights violations

 Civil societies defend Ford Foundation after Ruto offensive

“Donors have, in the past, been curtailed from resourcing civil society organisations by the State. Donors also struggle to strike a balance between not offending their host nations and their ability to ensure that democracy is still upheld,” said Amdany.

The activist also condemned the demonisation of the civil society by the government in what she said is an attempt to escape accountability, and blaming them that they are working on regime change.

Lucas Kimanthi, Assistant Director for Reforms and Accountability at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said they are prepared to handle human rights violations before and during elections.

"As a commission, we have built a good base in terms of experience from 2007 till 2017 elections. We have looked at 2017 report and made recommendations based on what we documented," said Kimanthi.

He also urged media houses to give equal coverage to all candidates and that political analysts should be tempered.

"We also recommend that media focuses on party primaries because they are very crucial," he said.

Election Observers Group (ELOG) raised concerns over legal reforms made near elections, saying that should not be the case.

“Elections are slightly over five months away, however there are still some pending laws that need to be enacted, which is a major concern," said Janet Chapia, Communications Officer at ELOG.