NGO board’s executive director Fazul Mahamed. [Photo/businesdaily]The NGO Coordination Board has until midday Tuesday to respond to a suit in which the Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation sued it for freezing its bank accounts.On Wednesday, High Court judge Roselyne Aburili issued the ultimatum after a state lawyer requested for two more days to respond to the case.The foundation’s lawyer, Albert Simiyu protested, saying that the board had earlier been granted 21 days but failed to do so. He urged the court to dismiss the request since the case was filed four months ago.“Nevertheless, I shall exercise my discretion and grant them one day to respond by mid-day October 10. In default, any document filed afterwards will be expunged,” said Lady Justice Aburili.
The board had not issued instructions on handling of the matter and that she was not aware that the court had even issued a temporary order according to the State lawyer.Through a March 1 letter by NGO board’s executive director Fazul Mahamed, the foundation was accused of operating a secret and illegal foreign currency account and that their accounts did not reveal identity of its donors.Kennedy Musyoka, Wiper Democratic Movement Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s son, who is also a trustee in the foundation, claimed that they had responded to the NGOs board on April 10 but it still froze their bank accounts on May 2 for allegedly failing to account for Sh196 million.In the said letter to the Central Bank of Kenya, the board asked the banking regulator to freeze the foundation’s accounts until further notice.The hearing of the case has now been set for November 21.