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OVER KSH671 MILLION RAISED BY THE KENYANS FOR KENYA INITIATIVE |
OVER KSH671 MILLION RAISED BY THE KENYANS FOR KENYA INITIATIVE
Fundraising efforts brought together a number of companies, SMEs, individual Kenyans and media houses in an effort to address the famine situation in Northern Kenya
Nairobi, September 6, 2011.
The Kenyans for Kenya fund-raising initiative, raised Kshs 671,784,062 in funds, according to closing figures released by audit firm Deloitte Kenya.
In kind contributions are still pouring in, but those that have been quantified to date amount to Ksh 27.9 million. In kind service support to the initiative amounts to over Ksh 250 million.
However, a total of Kshs 234.9 million still remains outstanding in pledges, with the steering committee appealing to concerned parties to settle their pledges in order to help facilitate a number of projects in the pipeline to address food insecurity in Northern Kenya.
The month-long fundraising initiative was spearheaded by a number of organizations among them Safaricom Foundation, KCB Foundation and the country’s leading media houses operating under the umbrella of the Media Owners Association (MOA). It was administered by relief agency Kenya Red Cross Society. Deloitte Kenya led a number of auditing firms in providing free auditing services to the fund.
The initiative initially intended to raise over Kshs 500 million in one month aimed at addressing the suffering of an estimated 3.5 million Kenyans faced with starvation in Northern Kenya. This amount was raised in the first two weeks of the campaign, prompting the steering committee to up the target to Kshs 1 billion.
According to the figures from Deloitte who were the official auditors of the kitty, some Kshs 102.5 million out of the total amount has been so far been spent on the purchase and transportation Unimix to the affected areas.
Widely touted as the biggest such effort ever mounted in Kenya, the drive was co-ordinated on several fund-raising fronts, including pledges from companies, individual donations through M-PESA Kenyans were also able to donate via other mobile money transfer platforms like Orange Money, YU Cash and Airtel Money. Other fundraising initiatives included the sale of specially branded T-Shirts and a closing concert held at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park which saw the attendance of close to 7,000 people.
Apart from short-term distribution of relief food, the Kenyans for Kenya kitty will also finance a number of medium term interventions meant to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable groups and eventually underpin food security in the long term in the worst affected regions.
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Gullet lauded Kenyans for the response the initiative got in such a short time.
“Kenyans have once again demonstrated their unity of purpose through this initiative. We are optimistic that these funds will go a long way in reversing the situation in Northern Kenya. It will compliment efforts being done by other partners such as the government and relief agencies,” said Mr Gullet.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, commenting on the initiative said: “I am encouraged by the response Kenyans have given this effort. It shows that we can do so much as Kenyans and also underscores how corporate organizations can partner with other stakeholders to make a difference.”
The trigger for the initiative was what was widely acknowledged by UN agencies and the Government to be Kenya’s worst drought in six decades. . Some 3.5 million Kenyan lives, mainly in northern Kenya were exposed to starvation and even death. The situation had been exacerbated by runaway inflation, a poor maize crop for the current season and a ballooning refugee crisis in ever unstable Somalia, Kenya’s eastern neighbor.
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