Editor's Review

“Out of the 16 organizations listed in the correspondence by the PS State Department for Foreign Affairs, only 3 are registered under the PBOs Act, 2013."

The Public Benefit Regulatory Authority has forwarded names of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Kenya without registrations.

Speaking on Monday, July 22, the authority chairperson Mwambu Mabonga claimed that the NGOs have been receiving funds that they are not accountable for.

He also alleged that the organizations are running unauthorized bank accounts and implementing projects that cannot be justified.

“The Authority has further forwarded to the DCI for further investigations, PBOs that are currently in operation without obtaining the requisite registration, and yet the PBOs in question are receiving funding that they are not accountable for running bank accounts that have not been authorized and implementing projects that cannot be quantified or accounted for,” said Mabonga.

He also mentioned that out of 16 NGOs that were listed to have received grants from the Ford Foundation only three of them are registered under the PBOs Act 2013.

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Mabonga pointed out that organizations engaging in public benefit in Kenya are required to either obtain public benefit status as provided for under section 7 or register with the authority under section 10 and 11 of the PBOs Act.

“Out of the 16 organizations listed in the correspondence by the PS State Department for Foreign Affairs, only 3 are registered under the PBOs Act, 2013 whereas the rest are registered by both the Registrar of Societies and Companies,” Mabonga added.

File image of Foreign Affairs PS Korir Sing'oei.

Foreign Affairs PS Korir Sing’Oei on July 18 wrote to the Ford Foundation questioning the funding of the 16 NGOs.

He mentioned that the US organization issued grants totaling Sh 752 million between April 2023 and May 2024.

“It is noteworthy that several of your Grantees below mentioned received a total of US$ 5.78 Million (approximately Kenya Shillings 752 Million) between April 2023 and May 2024 - with unexplained expedited funding amounting to US$ 1.49 M (approximately Kenya shillings 194 million) - over the last month alone,” the Foreign Affairs PS stated.

Ford Foundation denied allegations of funding the anti-government protests in Kenya and asked the Kenyan government to check the foundation’s website for information about its grants to organizations in Kenya.

“As a charitable foundation with a global presence, our grantmaking is transparent and readily available on our website, www.fordfoundation.org,” the foundation stated.