NGOs are good for Kenya, civil societies tell Government

President Uhuru Kenyatta addresses the nation during the 53rd Jamhuri Day Celebrations at Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi.

NAIROBI: Civil Societies in Kenya have urged the government to concentrate its energy and time in elevating the livelihoods of Kenyans instead of belittling Non-Governments Organisations. In a statement to newsrooms following Monday’s order to stop an American NGO from conducting voter education, the civil societies also called on the government to harness the contribution of NGOs for the good of Kenyans.

“The latest incidence in which the government has cancelled the implementation of a civic education programme supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) amounting to Kshs. 2 billion marks the lowest moment for a country that only two weeks ago received a donation of two planes from the American government to aid in the war against terrorism,” reads a statement signed by Suba Churchill on behalf of the Civil Society Reference Group.

The NGOs claimed that Monday’s was not the forts time the Jubilee administration was frustrating efforts to conduct mass voter education: “In 2014, the Ministry of Devolution and Planning then under the stewardship of Anne Waiguru declined to sign for support from the European Union because the resources were to be managed by county governments and not the national government.”

The stoppage of the Kenya Electoral Assistance Programme (KEAP) which was to be implemented by the International Federation of Electoral Systems (IFES), in partnership with local civil society organizations come days after President Uhuru Kenyatta singled out the civil society and international development partners, claiming that the groups were planning to undertake civic and voter education to in a manner that will influence the outcome of the 2017 elections.