Civil Society demands government withdrawal from contract with American lobby firm

A coalition of civil society organisations is asking the Office of the President to withdraw from a contract with an American based lobby company.

It came to light this week that the government entered into a contract worth 3.7 million US dollars with ‘Gainful Solutions,’ a California based firm owned by former US Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger to improve relations with the Trump Administration and block the establishment of the Hybrid Court. 

In a joint statement, the coalition of 18 civil society groups say they are shocked and dismayed by the contract.

A member of the Transitional Justice Working Group, Jame David Kolok says the move by the government indicates it is not interested in implementing the revitalized peace agreement wholly.  

The civil society activists are also concerned about the cost of the contract – saying the 3.7 million is enough to cater for workers’ salaries and represents more than five times the budget for humanitarian assistance in the 2018-2019 financial year

Jame David Kolok spoke to David Lukan in this interview.