KAWI has been a key partner amongst a group of NGOs advocating for Transparent, Responsible, Accountable and Inclusive leadership in HIV/Aids Civil Society in Kenya. This article was written by Prof. Khasiani who is a member of the group and the CEO of Family Support Institute (FASI). A national NGO based in Nairobi.

Editorial by Shanyisa Khasiani in Kenya Times - Saturday, 23 August, 2003

[available at http://www.kentimes.com/23aug03/editorials/comm1.html]

   KENYA’Snon-government organi-sations (NGOs) involved in HIV/Aids- related activities as well as community-based organizations (CBOs) have been thoroughly lambasted lately and challenged to clean up their messy house.

   The Minister for Health recently vowed to root out the bogus and parasitic NGOs that have been known to fleece Kenya millions of shillings allocated to those infected or affected with my/Aids. In fact, the New York Times recently (July 9th) echoed the Minister’s concern while it featured an imaginary NGO named NEEMA that claimed to be housed here in Nairobi. The spurious NGO, the New York Times pointed out, has received millions of shillings from the National Aids Control Council (NACC) for supposedly catering to non-existing orphans. The internationally respected paper further claims that Kenya has other such organisations specifically designed to capitalize on what is perceived as Aids’ gravy train.

   The Times article further points out that in addition to corruption among NGOs , corruption allegations against Kenya’s National Control Aids Council (NACC) has forced the Global Fund to withhold over 8 Billion shillings awarded to Kenya to fight HIV / Aids. The paper further contends that unless the trend is quickly curbed, Kenya risks discouraging support from other international contributors to our Aids kitty.

   Such negative and harmful image notwithstanding, it is important for ,; Kenyans to take note that not only is the larger civil society community involved in the war against the Aids scourge equally appalled, but that many organisations within it support the government’s commitment to exposing and eliminating such spurious organizations. More importantly, combined with the faith-based organisations (FBOs) the NGO-CBO community is taking its own initiative to streamline the messy house.

   Just last week, over 200 FBOs, NGOs and CBOs from around the country assembled at AMREF here in Nairobi to reflect on their prober forward on how to be much more effective than they have been hitherto. They not only deliberated on their tarnished image but lamented that this was a case of a few bad apples tarnishing the entire barrel.

   The day-long deliberations were attended by CBOs, FBOs and NGOs large and small and from as far away as Lodwar, Mt Elgon, Wajir, Lamu, Namanga, Bondo, Kisii, Lodwar, Homa Bay, Mandela, to name but just a few. It was a milestone of sort and probably the first time ever such a diverse collections of individuals in the HIV/Aids arena have assembled to reflect on the woes bedevilling their community.

   After an entire day non-interrupted deliberations the community came to the conclusion that the current chaotic state of the NGOs -their unaccounted numbers, their vague programmes, their unverified locations has provided an ideal environment for cheats and looters. In short, those who have failed to render services while at the same time fleecing the Aids coffers have been detractors of order. They cherish and thrive in chaos because accountability, responsibility and transparent are lacking in such an environment.

   The group came to the unanimous conclusion that change must begin with leadership that an accountable, responsible and transparent leadership had to take control to ensure that potential looters of Aids funds will no longer enjoy refuge within the civil society community.

   The group further proceeded to elect new leadership to represent it in the Joint Interagency Coordinating Committee (JICC), the government body which presently coordinates Aids funding by the international donor community. The group voted in NGO-CBO-FBO representatives it considers communicative, professional, responsible, accountable and transparent.

   Those elected include Asunta Wagura (KENW A), S. Khasiani (FASI), Augustine Wasonga (ICROSS) and Metter Kjer (AMREF). The members of the faith-based community (FBOs) were to submit their representatives later to the Minister of Health and the chairperson of the JICC.

   Other recommendations and resolutions by the AMREF Aids meeting included.

   That the Aids civil society community will no longer accept hand-picked representative to various government for a, including the JICC. That the government should recognize the perennial role that the civil society and especially the faith-based organizations (FBOs) have played in combating health problems and particularly Aids long before it was in vogue. Let’s not forget that even before the government admitted that there was an my/Aids problem, FBOs were already warning Kenyans about the imminent menace.

   That the government in seeking for funds from oversees should consider and allocate. Fair share to FBOs, CBOs and NGOs than it has been demonstrated hither to That the JICC should open more slots to the civil society representatives than the current handful, which appears to relegate the civil society to a marginal role.

   That the JICC be more open, more transparent in its: deliberations- and more democratic to reflect the changed political terrain and jettison the KANU image of secrecy and non-transparency.

   Those Aids groups will no longer accept claims by some group to represent them collectively unless they have given such a group mandate to do so.

   That the group condemns bogus NGOs and CBDs and support the government in its efforts to uproot them. We shall not accept in our community such groups and shall not accept leadership by individual or organization that has been alleged to be corrupt non-accountable or non-transparent, The group of Aids NGDs plans another meeting at AMREF on August 22 to continue with its efforts to streamline its activities and correct its checkered