NGOs NEED TO WALK THE TALK

Robert Chambers, the Godfather of modern community
development, recons that our professional actions are
usually overwhelmingly the effects of the culture
pervading our professional field. We might thus find
ourselves subscribing to nonsensical norms without
questioning them. We, development professionals, often
preach empowerment, justice, participation and other
noble values without reflecting on what we practice
"in-house".

My first bone of contention is the current threat by
some NGOs to relocate from Kenya if the government
insists on their "expertriate staff" paying taxes.
NGOs have been holding meetings to "map out
strategies" on the issue. What cheek! Thank God most
neighbouring countries have the tax in place or are
planning to introduce one. Where do we get the moral
authority to condemn companies that dodge taxes when
we are right now trying to extort an exemption that is
ill-justified. I think that as workers ascribing to
and prescribing certain values we must be the first to
uphold (and be seen to uphold) those values. We stay
in a country, use its social amenities, nay, EXPECT
social amenities including security, without
contributing to it through taxes!. Yet in the same
breath call upon other institutions to pay taxes for
the provision of those amenities. Where is the
transparency or justice in that? That line of
reasoning is utopian at best. It is the unprintables
at worst.

What could have been behind the history of tax
exemption for expatriates? I am not sure but I think
it was under the premise that expatriates provide a
service so vital yet rare that that service in itself
is more valuable than the revenue from taxes on it. If
that were still true of development workers, how come
every position advertised (including executive
positions in leading NGOs) attracts hundreds of
extremely qualified local applicants? How come the
world economy increasingly runs on knowledge based
industries, yet knowledge-based companies are taxed
just the same in all countries? How come farmers, the
backbone of Kenya's economy, pay taxes just the same?
I put it that development workers are vital but by no
means rare. If we exempt them from taxes then we
should add computer programmers, genetic engineers,
immunologists and horticultural farmers to the
exemption list.

The "expatriate/international" tag and continuation of
exemption from taxes I suspect is due to culture. Yet
we, development workers, are credited with changing
seemingly insurmountable cultures. We have introduced
participation in governments of formerly autocratic
traditions, we have forced gender balance in macho
institutions such as corporate boardrooms and men are
at least getting embarrassed about beating their wives
or marrying another wife. We bravely and candidly
examine sensitive issues such as relationships,
cultures and religions on the basis that justice
should be done for sustainable development to occur.
Yet we refuse to question the merit of tax exemption
for ourselves and adorn the convenient shroud of
tradition. The hypocrisy!

My next bone of contention shall be "international
staff/expertriate" tags.

Sincerely,

Job Ogonda
P.O. Box 13577, westlands Nairobi, Kenya. 00800