Kenyatta’s anti-terror NGO clampdown may have broader agenda

The new legislation gives more powers to security agencies enabling them - among other things - to detain terror suspects for almost a year. This comes after Kenya de-registered at least 500 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and froze their accounts. Some of the groups are suspected of financing terrorism. However analysts say the move by President Uhuru Kenyatta is aimed at silencing his critics. They include NGOs that wanted to see Kenyatta stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. DW spoke to Jakkie Cilliers, a security analyst at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria.

DW: What sort of relations does Kenya have with NGOs?

Cilliers: It is well known that Uhuru Kenyatta's government is quite concerned about the activities of the NGOs, partly because they see them as conduits of human rights and other activities that have been an embarrassment for the Kenyan government and have fueled - to a degree - some of the pro-ICC campaigns in Kenya. But Kenya has a very vibrant civil society and there are hundreds of NGOs if not thousands, that really provide service delivery, play a watchdog role. So it's quite difficult to judge from a distance what exactly drove this, but it does seem to be a much wider approach, and my suspicion is that it is not only linked to alleged illegal financial transactions to al-Shabab but that this might also be an opportunity that the Kenyan government is using to clamp down on organizations that may have been pushing the boundaries in terms of the ICC case against President Kenyatta.

The Horn of Africa has become synonymous with human rights abuses, lack of press freedoms and good governance. Where is this leading to?

I think the Horn of Africa is the most unstable among all regions in Africa. That is because it has countries like South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia that are recovering from brutal internal conflicts, and then it borders the Great Lakes region. As we all know, Kenya, which has its own challenges in terms of the degree to which its politics have been corrupted by tribalism, has in recent in years faced a particular challenge from Somalia when it eventually decided to go and support AMISOM and the African Union forces in Somalia. Al-Shabab has since struck back. And like the United States and the international community, the Kenyan government - quite legitimately - is trying to make sure that nongovernmental organizations are not being used as a conduit. We don't know enough of the specifics of the NGOs that are affected to be able to make a clear judgment on this at the moment but I think over time the picture will perhaps become clearer.

What do you think will be the reaction of Kenya's friends, Great Britain, the United States and others?

I think there will be a degree of concern because Kenya receives a significant amount of donor assistance that is channeled through NGOs. It is well known that corruption in Kenya is quite high. There are concerns about government efficiency and a number on international organizations work through civil society, delivering food and aid. So definitely it's an issue of concern and I would assume that if it's not yet been raised publicly, it will be raised at a later date.

Jakkie Cilliers is a security analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria

Interviewer: Tekle Yewhala