Charities hoodwink the marginalised that an unequal and unjust society which is stable is preferable to a leap into a revolutionary unknown.
Modern charity, or philanthropy, is the rich person’s vehicle for helping the impoverished close the indignity and injustice gaps. It’s a trickle-down attempt by the powerful to bandage the wounds of exploitation and powerlessness.
In a word, philanthropy objectively seeks to give capitalism a human face – for the haves to tell the have-nots that they care about their penury and plight. It’s a clever way for the rich to tell the poor that the status quo works for them. In a broader political context, charities hoodwink the marginalised that an unequal and unjust society which is stable is preferable to a leap into a revolutionary unknown. In this piece, I explore the abuse of philanthropy in Kenya.
Let me state this upfront – I’ve no problem with capitalism per se. What I have a problem with are capitalism’s excesses and its unequal and unjust distribution of power and wealth. That’s why I support systems anchored in social democracy because they tend to reduce – not eliminate – the yawning abuses of capitalism and runaway unbridled markets. Nor do I have incurable issues with the rich man’s charity as a conceptual matter. Much depends on the sources of funds of the charity, the structure of the charity and how it’s held to account, its purposes, and how its largesse is used. Charities closely governed by the law and run transparently often do some social good and mitigate the worst inequities.
By charities and philanthropies, I am not talking about traditional African modes of communal self-help such as the mwethya among the Akamba. Mwethya brings a community together to pool labour or resources in a merry-go-round to maximize its energies. In the farming season, for example, communities organise groups to go to every farm on successive days to plant or cultivate so that the owner doesn’t have to do the back-breaking work alone. Nor am I referring to impromptu fund-raisers to send a child to school, or the harambee to build a local school, or the Muslim practice of alms to support the downtrodden. No – I mean registered legal persons to raise, or give, money for designated social purposes.
Personal charities
Recently, there has been an epidemic of personal charities or philanthropies in Kenya. Kenyan politicians are the most frequent abusers of this practice. Athletes, musicians or artists, fake pastors, conmen, and all sorts of dysfunctional layabouts are also guilty of this social cancer. What’s most troubling is that most of these so-called “personal” charities aren’t registered or known to the law and responsible authorities.
Most fly under the radar and no one knows anything about them. What’s most stunning is that many of them raise money from a gullible public in the full glare of cameras and social media as authorities watch and do nothing. It’s a jungle out there. Let me tell why Kenya should stamp this vice out.
First, I’ve no doubt most of the charities are used to unjustly enrich those who launch or “own” them. I would like to see investigative reporting on the charities of famous politicians. Let’s see how much money is raised annually, the sources of the funds, and how they are spent and administered. The accepted best practices standard internationally is a 75-25 per cent split of programmes to administration.
That is to say for every $100 you raise, the charity should spend $25 for costs while $75 goes to the target purposes for which it was raised. This high efficiency is the true benchmark for good governance and transparency. Ratios below 60 per cent are red flags for theft and corruption.
Underprivileged kids
Second, people who are obviously broke and have no money, education, or training in philanthropy have no business establishing charities to seek monies from the public. There have been a lot of this lately among shady pastors, artists, and other malignant folks of unknown pedigree.
They purport to raise money to support underprivileged kids pay for tuition or for what they say is the empowerment of demographics such as village women, the sick, orphans, the girl-child, or the boy-child. The problem is that often there’s no follow-up. These briefcase charities have no known address or records. The next thing you know, the penniless “owner” of the charity has built a “mansion” in the village and bought a high-end gas guzzler.
Third, and lastly, let it be clear that in a poor country like Kenya, I encourage “good works” to ease the suffering of the people. But I absolutely abhor the criminal actions of conmen and fake do-gooders to use philanthropy to fleece the public to unjustly enrich themselves. It’s not only criminal but manifestly cruel. Kenya has many frauds, but these are among the worst. Their toothy grins belie their evil intentions. Whether they come clutching the Bible, or singing Christmas carols, they belong in jail. The relevant arms of government should hunt the crooks down and lock them up. They belong in the gaol, not the streets.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. On X: @makaumutua.
