The Non-governmental Organizations(NGOs) council yesterday vowed to establish the reasons behind the non-compliance of 510 NGOs deregistered on Tuesday by the NGO Co-ordination Board.
The chief executive officer of the council, Kevinnah Loyatum said the council had embarked on an audit to unearth the non-compliance reasons behind the strucking of the agencies from the NGOs register.
“The NGO council wants to conduct an enquiry of the problem of non-compliance by the agencies involved,” said Loyatum.
The CEO reiterated that the NGO council was keen to ensure rogue NGOs do not operate in the country but faulted the board for not giving the 510 NGOs more time to comply if they had not as early agreed.
She revealed that NGO council Chairman Wilson Kipkazi had earlier written to the board seeking for more time for the agencies to submit their returns.
On the issue of accountability, Loyatum said that the council was working on mechanisms to ensure accountability and transparency in NGOs operations.
“We will continue to be more vigilant to ensure the money given by international donors is not misappropriated and those found culpable will be punished heavily,” she said, adding that regulations on accountability were being formulated by the council and will be out by January next year.
She noted that the input of NGOs in the country was very crucial -- whether political, educational, health or environmental -- and should not be taken for granted by the state.
“Deregistering of NGOs especially in the health sector could be detrimental. It will subject those who depend on them to untold suffering. For example Kenyan HIV/AIDS patients who depend on foreign aid which reaches them through NGOs will suffer,”she said.
The NGOs deregistered also had their accounts frozen leaving many people shocked of the fate of dependants of majority of the agencies which operate across borders doing critical relief work.