Breaking the silence on NGOs in Africa – a review
Breaking the silence on NGOs in Africa – a review
The Intellectuals go on to diagnose several key symptoms felt by the NGO-ization of Kenyan movements. Telling the story of Bunge La Mwananchi (The Peoples Parliament) in the early 1990s, Kinuthia Ndungu explains how the movement became a shadow of its original self as NGOs capitalized on poor members’ material conditions and turned them into ‘guns for hire’ by mobilizing them to join activities and demonstrations – whatever the cause – in exchange for monetary reimbursements. This is but one way how NGOs create a culture of dependency within a movement, making it challenging for grassroots leaders to organize activities without adequate finances and payments to those supporting a cause. Reliance on NGO resource support – in the form of staff time, printed materials, computers, etc. – can influence movement dependence, which can experience severe strain when donor funds shift to other alliances or causes. Additionally, movements that accept NGO resource and advocacy support often become softer in their critique of NGO positionality, dismissing the historical relationship between imperialism and NGOs.