Nairobi, December 19 (RHC)-- Kenyan authorities have deregistered over 500 non-governmental organizations, some of which are accused of financing terrorism, officials say. A total of 15 of the 537 deregistered NGOs have had their bank accounts frozen and information forwarded to security agencies over links to terrorism, according to deputy director of Kenya's NGO Coordination Board, Henry Ochido.

The list includes 510 other organizations -- among them women's empowerment groups, rural development organizations and legal groups for people living with HIV and AIDS -- that have violated Kenya's NGO Coordination Act and "completely failed to respond to the notice for intended cancellation of their registration certificates," the government said.

Another 12 organizations, including medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and Concern Worldwide, would be deregistered because they failed to file audit reports. Hundreds of other NGOs are at the risk of being deregistered within the next three weeks, Ochido added.