"Watch This Space!" N.G.O. Council Warns Politicians Out To Cause Chaos.

The National Council of N.G.O.s has warned politicians that they will face the wrath of the council if they attempted to incite their supporters to cause chaos or attack their rivals in the advent of the 2017 campaigns.

Speaking at Forthall Hotel in Kenol Town, Murang’a County during the sensitisation workshop for the Central Kenya N.G.O.s, the chairperson Mr. Samuel Githinji said that they would no longer tolerate any leader who sponsored or was linked to violence, hate speech or even outlawed groups. He added that the council was aware of some politicians and rogue N.G.O.s who were hell bent on engaging in hooliganism as the country approached next year’s General Elections, and that the culprits would be dealt with according to the law.

“We have come here in the Central Region with the view of revitalising the N.G.O. Council, make it vibrant and make sure that we are moving together even with the members at the grassroots. We will visit all regions in the country with the same theme and trying to collect views from our members on how we can make this council acceptable to everyone in the country,” said Githinji.

He said as a council, they were aware that some N.G.O.s have been in the past being funded and used by politicians and foreign masters to cause chaos in the country.

“As we were telling our members in this forum, there will be no more bloodshed in the country in the name of politics. We are warning our politicians that we will no longer allow them to cause mayhem in the country. We intend to clean our house first so that we can help clean the nation off the bad traits. Therefore, we will not hesitate to deregister any N.G.O. that will go against our code of conduct and regulations,” he said.

He added that, as a council, it was a concern that every time the politicians plunged this country into anarchy, none of them ever got killed or maimed along with the common people.

“It is a concern to us that every time there was bloodshed, it is the ‘raia’ who died. This time we are saying that if there would be any deaths, we should also witness the politicians also being victims of their dose of anarchy,” he said.

Abdulrahman Mohammed Ali, a member of the council, warned that any N.G.O. that will be found engaging in political alignments and activities will be harshly dealt with by the council.

“There is no objective among N.G.O.s to join politics. Right now the politicians are spreading hate speech. We want to tell you (politicians) that no civil society or organisation will stand with you. You are alone in this. We will lobby the people against you. So, watch this space,” warned Ali.

Mwangi Kanagi clarified that N.G.O.s were wrongly perceived by very many people to be anti-government due to their stand on various issues that affected the common mwanachi.

“At times there is a position that has to be taken and the citizens are unable to articulate it. So, for those who are in the civil society who understand the position of the law, when they stand in that gap, it is seen as if they are antagonising the government,” said Kinagi.

Diana Gichaiya from Kirinyaga County, and a member of the N.G.O. Council, castigated those of their members who were driven by greed to abuse the objectives and mission of the civil society.

Githinji said that the council had about 1,000 registered N.G.O.s from across the whole nation. Currently, he said that the council was reviewing downwards their registration fees downwards to sh.1500 from the previous sh. 3,000. The council was also in the process too to review their code of conduct so as they went in line with the new constitution.