The European Union has raised concern over the crackdown on non-governmental organisations perceived to be critical of the government.
In a statement, the EU Election Observation Mission criticised the deregistration of the Kenya Human Right Commission (KHRC) by the NGO s Coordination Board and the orders to close down the offices of the Africa Center for Open Governance (AfriCOG) and called on the government to accord the civil society space and security within which to operate.
The EU at the same time hailed the intervention of acting Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i directing the board to suspend the crackdown on the two organisations pending further investigations.
“We welcome the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Interior to reverse the NGO Coordination Board decisions regarding KHRC and AfriCOG. We call on the Kenyan authorities to give civil society the space and security to work towards greater democracy for Kenyans,” the statement read.
The EU spoke in the wake of the de-registration of KHRC and early morning raid on AfriCOG offices in Lavington by officers from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
