A section of civil society organisations has termed as false the recent accusations by President Uhuru Kenyatta that their groups were receiving funds from foreign powers in order to interfere with the 2017 General Election.
According to the Kenya branch of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the president’s remarks are unjustified and can only help to scare them away from meeting their mandate.
“Remarks by both the President and Interior Principal Secretary to curtail the work of civil society in conducting civic education amounts to a direct attempt at curtailing multiple fundamental human rights provided for in Chapter Four of the Constitution of Kenya,” noted Samwel Mohochi, ICJ's Executive Director who spoke during a media briefing on Friday.
He said that civil society groups always have a role to play to ensure that citizens are educated and sensitized on how to exercise their rights at elections without necessarily working with the IEBC.
“Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) do fundraise independently of each other – it is not a walk in the part- they have to account for each and every cent they receive from the donors,” he said as quoted by CapitalFM
“It is practically impossible to expect funding that has been availed to them to be transferred to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC),” he added.
The commission also faulted a Wednesday directive issued by PS for State Department of Interior Eng Karanja Kibicho that called for a crackdown on NGOs conducting civic education and urged state officers to refrain from enforcing such an order.