In an OpEd piece in today's Daily Nation, Jennifer Shamalla, a founder of the National Conservative Forum,
attempts to tar all civil society organisations with the same brush.
She accuses them of ultimately forcing on Kenyans obscure ideas and
values systems (Beware those fighting for your rights). CSOs in
Kenya perform many of the tasks that the Government of Kenya has given
up on. Who among us is going to seek foreign conspiracies in the work of
the Kenya Red Cross or of World Vision? No one denies that some operate
like puppets on a string, spouting the latest in global group-think on
matters as diverse as the 'rights' of homosexuals or transgender
persons. But on some issues, the CSOs have led where the government has
been loath to tread.
Take for instance basic education for the millions of Kenyans children whose parents have given up on the government. If it was not for civil society organisations like the Catholic and Anglican churches, these children would have no access to education. Or to primary healthcare for that matter.
We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand and give the government a free pass simply because it is building the infrastructure of the future. The shiny new highways being constructed by the government come at great cost. While the Somalia adventure may have eaten substantially into the government's finances, it does not, by itself, explain why teachers, doctors or nurses have to go without the pay-rise they all so richly deserve for a job we would like to pretend is easy to do. The reality is that without the CSOs making up the numbers, the provision of some basic services to scores of Kenya's neglected regions would remain the pipe-dream it has been since Independence.
Some of the services that CSOs provide include capacity-building for local operators, be it in the arena of environmental conservation or prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Without the participation of the CSOs in these crucial areas, these services would not be available to those who need them and the degradation of our environment would continue apace and the child-infection rate of HIV would sky-rocket to epidemic proportions. Not all CSOs are the tip of the spear of foreign influence-peddling in Kenya. Ms Shamalla must acknowledge this. Indeed, does the National Conservative Forum not fall into this category? We would be within our rights to demand that they publish their charter and their accounts to prove to us that they are not under the control of a foreign power.
CSOs, especially NGOs, have been the victims of baseless accusations for decades. But even in the politically charged arena of 'human rights' they have contributed significantly in moving Kenya forward over the years. If it was not for them, Kenya would still be held hostage to the former Constitution and its odious Section 2A that made it a constitutional one-party state (some may have called it a constitutional one-party dictatorship). Of course some of the proposals coming out of CSO chinwags are anathema to millions of Kenyans, such as the legalisation of homosexuality, of prostitution or the expanded rights of minority communities. But we should not pretend that the members of these groups do not form part of this great country we call Kenya.
Instead of groups like the National Conservative Forum concentrating their efforts in rolling back many of the reforms brought forth by the Constitution, they should expend their energies n ensuring that Kenyan social and political values, such as they be, are not hijacked by foreign powers out to line their pockets. There is no reason why the governments of the USA, the UK, China, India, Australia and others should pour millions, perhaps billions, of shillings in achieving 'human rights goals' in Kenya; they should do so back in their countries. It is for well-connected and, apparently, well-funded CSOs like the National Conservative Forum, to pick up the slack where the Government of Kenya is lacking.
Take for instance basic education for the millions of Kenyans children whose parents have given up on the government. If it was not for civil society organisations like the Catholic and Anglican churches, these children would have no access to education. Or to primary healthcare for that matter.
We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand and give the government a free pass simply because it is building the infrastructure of the future. The shiny new highways being constructed by the government come at great cost. While the Somalia adventure may have eaten substantially into the government's finances, it does not, by itself, explain why teachers, doctors or nurses have to go without the pay-rise they all so richly deserve for a job we would like to pretend is easy to do. The reality is that without the CSOs making up the numbers, the provision of some basic services to scores of Kenya's neglected regions would remain the pipe-dream it has been since Independence.
Some of the services that CSOs provide include capacity-building for local operators, be it in the arena of environmental conservation or prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Without the participation of the CSOs in these crucial areas, these services would not be available to those who need them and the degradation of our environment would continue apace and the child-infection rate of HIV would sky-rocket to epidemic proportions. Not all CSOs are the tip of the spear of foreign influence-peddling in Kenya. Ms Shamalla must acknowledge this. Indeed, does the National Conservative Forum not fall into this category? We would be within our rights to demand that they publish their charter and their accounts to prove to us that they are not under the control of a foreign power.
CSOs, especially NGOs, have been the victims of baseless accusations for decades. But even in the politically charged arena of 'human rights' they have contributed significantly in moving Kenya forward over the years. If it was not for them, Kenya would still be held hostage to the former Constitution and its odious Section 2A that made it a constitutional one-party state (some may have called it a constitutional one-party dictatorship). Of course some of the proposals coming out of CSO chinwags are anathema to millions of Kenyans, such as the legalisation of homosexuality, of prostitution or the expanded rights of minority communities. But we should not pretend that the members of these groups do not form part of this great country we call Kenya.
Instead of groups like the National Conservative Forum concentrating their efforts in rolling back many of the reforms brought forth by the Constitution, they should expend their energies n ensuring that Kenyan social and political values, such as they be, are not hijacked by foreign powers out to line their pockets. There is no reason why the governments of the USA, the UK, China, India, Australia and others should pour millions, perhaps billions, of shillings in achieving 'human rights goals' in Kenya; they should do so back in their countries. It is for well-connected and, apparently, well-funded CSOs like the National Conservative Forum, to pick up the slack where the Government of Kenya is lacking.
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