NGOs that bankrolled 1998 Nairobi bomb attack struck out
The government has deregistered more than 500 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) accusing them of financing terrorism and lacking accountability in their operations.
About 15 of them are accused of having bankrolled the August 07, 1998 Al-Qaeda twin attacks on United States embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
Twelve others, with a combined income of more than Sh500 million, have been given three weeks to file their returns.
AUDITED REPORTS
A further 510 organisations have been struck off the register for failing to file their audited reports.
NGOs Co-ordination Board executive director Fazul Mahamed Yusuf said the bank accounts of the affected organizations have been frozen and the board is now repossessing their assets with a view to re-distributing the same to other NGOs pursuing similar charitable objectives.
“We note that a few NGOs have continued to flout the law by engaging in illegal activities or by failing to comply with their compliance obligations,” he said.
“Such organisations may erode the public confidence in the charitable sector in the country.”
REVOKE WORK PERMITS
The board has also revoked all work permits obtained by expatriates working in the charitable sector contrary to Section 17 of the NGOs Co-ordination Act.
“These work permits were obtained without reference to or recommendation from the regulator. All NGOs with expatriate staff are advised to come to the board’s offices to ascertain and update the work permit records of their employees,” announced Mr Yusuf.
The director, at the same time, put on notice donors who do not demand accountability from organisations.
“In fact, we shall hold donors accountable just as we do for NGOs if the funds they donate are used for criminal purposes,” he said.
The deregistration comes hot on the heels of a Security Law Bill that seeks to cap the amount of money NGOs operating in Kenya can receive from abroad to just 15 per cent of their budgets.