Nairobi — The legacy of the late Tanzanian president Mwalimu Julius Nyerere has bolstered the efforts of leading companies and family foundations to start a regional network to assist the poor in the society.

East African Association of Grantmakers which includes the Aga Khan Foundation, Kabaka Foundation, Rattansi Educational Trust, Chandaria Foundation and Kilimo Trust in Tanzania are among 15 other philanthropist organisations that remembered the late Nyerere with a special appeal to have his foundation be part of the newly inspired form of caring for the needy in society.

"We have the massive images of family foundations such as the Nyerere Foundation, Moi Foundation, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation, Nelson Mandela Foundation to spearhead this sustained way of helping the poor and finishing the class system," its chief executive officer Ms Lucy Githaiga said.

She said the late Nyerere is best remembered for striving to create a society of equal humanity driving the cause of philanthropy, unity, single Kiswahili language and sharing of available resources equally.

Quoting A legacy of Giving, a book by Rose Lukalo-Owino, Ms Githaiga said even the church in the region like Catholic Church should start foundations for their heroes like the late Maurice Cardinal Otunga Foundation because the socio-economic unity could help Africa overshadow the dependency syndrome within the continent.

EAAG members nurture a strong culture of local giving and resource mobilisation in East Africa and promoting effective grant-making for sustainable development.

"Our mission is to nurture and enhance a culture of local giving and resource mobilisation through the growth of vibrant grant making in East Africa," said Ms Githaiga.

EAAG opened its membership to Grantmaking organisations in the region.

"Our members are drawn from family foundations, corporate foundations, community foundations, private foundations and other organisations in the philanthropic and grant making sector. EAAG currently has 19 members." Ms Githaiga said.

Now EAAG has roped in the private sector to enlarge the already bigger hearts of many families and individuals to co-ordinate a structured giving and caring for other peoples welfare.

"We receive a lot of donor funding but because the right hand does not know what the left hand is giving, we have ended up in unresolved scandals. The donors really feel hurt as much as humanitarian suffering prick their conscience to continue assisting," Ms Githaiga said.

"We need the banks to work out a well-structured charity system and to assist in forming charity beneficiaries alumni so that those who received or benefitted can also contribute to help people in situations they were in. Africans can be their own donors if greed is eliminated," proposed Mrs Vijoo Rattansi, vice chairperson of EAAG.

The Kenya government in its part declared that money donated to charity organisations will be exempted from tax.

Under the Income Tax Act for Charitable Donations (2007), the Finance minister can approve any project that helps in reducing poverty or suffering or that helps develop education in the country for the tax waiver.

Mrs Rattansi said philanthropy is the bedrock of success for generations because every successful human being must have been assisted to grow and that is where education becomes the second mother of human life.

She says structural philanthropy that can be reproduced through alumni of people of have been assisted could give a permanent sense of coming together for a worthy cause. In her book Fulfilling a dream she says " differences are good because this makes our culture a rich blend of a beautiful rainbow and to improve relations we have to rely heavily on education. We must work and live together."

She argues, "Our greatest enemy is greed; we can't remove it chemically through medicine but by education. Kenya needs a moral education."

Ms Githaiga added that they have increased regional activity between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with a primary goal for the building of philanthropic organizations--asset development, grant making and governance to make them more effective in their work.