Den kenyanske avis “Sunday Nation” skrev søndag i en forsideartikel, at de kenyanske myndigheder arbejder på en løsning i mindelighed i sagen om manglende forlængelse af arbejdstilladelserne for 3 udsendte fra Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke (MS) i det østafrikanske land.
Det hedder i artiklen: “In an interview with the Sunday Nation, Foreign Affairs assistant minister Moses Wetangula on Friday said that…”we do not wish this situation to cause unnecessary anxiety.”
– We are working for an amicable settlement. As for now, I can tell you that although the Treasury has to sanction expatriate work permits, Immigration has assured us that the Danish workers papers are valid and clean, added he.
Her er resten af artiklen:
The Danish Government has asked Kenya to resolve the diplomatic row over three NGO workers before a meeting with the Danish International Development Agency (Danida) in Nairobi on June 21.
Meanwhile, Kenyas Ambassador in Copenhagen, Mr Michael Kinyanjui, was on Friday summoned by the Danish minister for International Development Cooperation, Ms Ulla Tørnæs, to explain the one-month stand-off over the Danish workers whose permits the Kenya Government declined to renew on May 3.
The Danish media this week quoted Ms Tørnæs as saying that she had sent her governments complaints directly to President Kibaki over the alleged harassment and intimidation of Danish NGO MS-Kenya.
– I told the ambassador that the Danish government finds the treatment of MS-Kenya completely unacceptable and that we have chosen to halt the work of the upcoming country strategy for Kenya, she was quoted by the Kristelight Dagblad newspaper as saying.
– I was not given any explanation on the Kenyan authorities treatment of MS-Kenya, and the ambassador did not try to explain away what had happened. But he expressed the desire to settle the case quickly, she added.
The saga was started by a December 22 confidential letter from the then permanent secretary for Internal Security, Mr Dave Mwangi, to the Danish ambassador, Mr Finn Thilsted, and copied to Treasury PS Peter Kinyua.
It said the Government did not wish to renew the work permits of the three MS-Kenya workers allegedly because the organisation had been involved in illegal and subversive activities.
On May 3, the Treasury turned down an application to approve the renewal of the permits that expired in September.
The Treasury must sanction the granting or extension of work permits for bilateral organisations’ workers.
Efforts to reach Treasurys external resources director Donald Kibera or PS Peter Kinyua were unsuccessful as their secretaries said they were in meetings the whole day on Friday.
But sources said that when Mr Thilsted demanded an explanation during a meeting with National Security minister John Michuki and Foreign Affairs ministry officials two weeks ago, he was told that MS-Kenya was behind the Mai Mahiu ethnic clashes in Naivasha and the invasion of commercial ranches in Laikipia by the local herders in August.
The incidents have been blamed on land rights lobbies, which are funded by MS-Kenya, a Danish NGO that has been operating in Kenya since 1968 and receives funding from Danida.
Danida is heavily involved in health, water, sanitation and road construction programmes in Kenya.
Kenya risks losing its 19 billion Kenya shilling in development aid in the next five years if the country and Denmark do not settle the matter.
– These are national security matters. Although the ambassador had asked for a written explanation at last weeks meeting, we could not do that like we are giving evidence in a court of law. It is not a simple matter, a government source told the Sunday Nation adding:
– The Office of the President is acting on the advice of the National Security Council.
MS-Kenya country director Lotte Grauballe has denied that she, her workers, the organisation itself and client local NGOs have been involved in illegal activities, saying the Government is yet to give proof.
In an interview after a meeting with VP Moody Awori two weeks ago, Mr Thilsted said Mr Awori promised him that action would be taken soon. Although Mr Michuki and Foreign Affairs minister Ali Mwakwere are yet to make statements on the matter, time seems to be running out.
Mr Michuki and his assistant, Mr Mirugi Kariuki, as well as Mr Mwakwere were out of the country last week.
