Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has established a multi-agency working group to identify and monitor non-profit organizations considered vulnerable to terrorism financing in Kenya.
Murkomen formally created the Multi-Agency Co-ordination Working Group on Non-Profit Organizations at Risk of Terrorism Financing.
In a Gazette Notice No. 14153, the new team brings together government agencies responsible for security, financial intelligence, and the registration and regulation of non-profit organizations, with a mandate to strengthen coordination and oversight of the sector.
“It is notified for the general information of the public that the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration has constituted a working group to be known at the Multi-Agency Coordination Working Group on Non-Profit Organizations at Risk of Terrorism Financing, hereinafter referred to as the Working Group,” read the notice in part.
Murkomen Forms Multi-Agency Team to Monitor NGOs
The Multi-Agency Co-ordination Working Group on Non-Profit Organizations at Risk of Terrorism Financing will serve as a platform for consultation and cooperation among government agencies working in the non-profit sector.
Ministry of Interior and National Administration will provide the chairperson, while the Public Benefit Organizations Regulatory Authority (PBORA) will provide secretariat services.
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Other institutions represented in the working group include the Office of the Attorney-General, Business Registration Service, Registrar of Societies, Directorate of Social Development, National Counter-Terrorism Center and Financial Reporting Center.
According to the Gazette Notice, the group will coordinate the identification of non-profit organizations conducting charitable activities that may be vulnerable to terrorism financing.
It will also coordinate the risk-based monitoring of NPOs considered to be at higher risk. This means the framework is intended to distinguish between organizations based on their assessed level of risk, rather than subjecting every non-profit organization to identical scrutiny.
What the New Team Will Do
The working group has been assigned several responsibilities covering regulation, monitoring, awareness and information sharing.
Among its duties is sensitizing non-profit organizations to terrorism-financing risks and coordinating the implementation of agreed measures to address those risks within the sector.
The team will also work to harmonize approaches used by different government agencies when dealing with non-profit organizations considered vulnerable to terrorist financing. This is intended to improve coordination between institutions with different responsibilities for registration, financial intelligence, security, and regulation.
Another major responsibility will be facilitating the sharing and exchange of information among members on terrorism-financing risks affecting the non-profit sector.
The group can also consider emerging issues raised by its members and undertake research and studies it considers necessary to carry out its mandate.
The Gazette gives the working group powers to develop its own rules of procedure and work plans. It can hold meetings and consultations, review relevant reports, policies and legislation, and co-opt individuals or institutions with relevant expertise where necessary.
In its notice, the working team has functions focused on coordination, risk-based monitoring, sensitization, information sharing, research, and implementation of agreed measures.
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Move Comes as Kenya Faces FATF Scrutiny
The establishment of the team comes against the backdrop of Kenya’s continued efforts to strengthen its systems for combating money laundering and terrorism financing.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Kenya under increased monitoring in February 2024. FATF describes jurisdictions under increased monitoring, commonly called the grey list, as countries working to address strategic deficiencies in their systems for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
The new working group therefore brings together institutions involved in financial intelligence, counter-terrorism, and the registration and regulation of non-profit organizations in a coordinated framework.
In May 2026, Murkomen announced the extension, giving affected organizations additional time to comply with requirements under the Public Benefit Organizations Act.
The working group will prepare and submit an annual report of its activities directly to Murkomen. This will provide the Interior CS with regular updates on its work, including coordination activities and measures undertaken to address terrorism-financing risks in the non-profit sector.
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