Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya (BNBR) is a nationally registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that has been actively involved in mental health initiatives since 2005. BNBR operates in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and various stakeholders within the mental health sector. Over the years, we have honed our capabilities in the implementation of community mental health programs that are person-centered, rights-based and focused on recovery.
This is informed by our belief that addressing mental wellbeing and illness goes beyond just health systems, given that mental wellbeing and illness themselves are not simply health issues, but have social and economic causes and effects. Our interventions thus focus on the clinical, economic, and social wellbeing of individuals, as well as the resilience and wellbeing of their communities, ultimately resulting in a community that values the mental health and wellbeing of all its members.
Our Philosophy
VISION
MISSION
As an organization, we believe in, and are guided by the following ideals:
Inclusion: We endeavour to facilitate inclusion at all levels without discrimination on the basis of religion, tribe, sex or any other basis.
Respect: Respect for and safeguarding of human rights and dignity is an overriding consideration in all our actions.
Diversity: We are sensitive to, respect and consciously draw from the diversity in peoples’ identities, cultures, knowledge, abilities and practices.
Integrity: We uphold ourselves to the highest levels of truthfulness, honesty, openness and uprightness, and commit to doing the right things as a matter of principle.
Transparency and Accountability: We uphold stakeholders’ trust through consistent open and prudent administration of fiscal and other resources entrusted to us.
Our Governance Team
Allan Ochieng' Oginga
Board Chairperson
Allan Oginga is the Chairperson of the Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya Board. He previously served as the Chair of our Organizational Development Committee. He has over 18 years’ experience working with Non-State Actors in the health sector; having worked in several organizations. Allan is currently the Health Financing Lead at Living Goods. He has previously worked as the Technical Advisor, Health Systems Strengthening at the Fred Hollows Foundation, Regional Manager at IntraHealth International and the CEO of the Community Health Financing Association for Eastern Africa based in Arusha, Tanzania. He has also worked for AMREF Health Africa and the Health NGOs Network. Allan was instrumental in setting up the Advocacy and Policy unit when Basic Needs opened its first office in Kenya in 2005 and consequently served the organization for 4 years. He holds a Post graduate degree in Social and Applied Economics with concentrations in Health and Development Economics, from Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA. His key competences are in Health Systems Strengthening (Health Financing/Human Resources for Health), Program Management in health NGO sector, policy advocacy for effective public health sector governance. In his free time Allan enjoys, reading, travelling, research, swimming, watching football and supporting community projects.
Dr. Florence Jaguga
Board Vice Chairperson
Dr. Florence Jaguga is a consultant psychiatrist working at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, Kenya. She heads the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation Unit at MTRH. She is a trained Quality Rights assessor and is involved in evaluating mental health facilities in Kenya for their compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She is a National Executive Council member of the Kenya Psychiatric Association and the Board Vice Chairperson at Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya. She is a researcher and is a current Fogarty Global Health Fellow. Her research works seek to find sustainable strategies for implementing substance use screening and treatment interventions within primary care settings. She is currently a consultant for the Mental Health Investment Case for Kenya, a project being conducted by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the Kenyan Ministry of Health.
Dr. Rogers Kinoti M’ariba
Board Treasurer
Dr. Kinoti is an accomplished economist, accountant and investment practitioner and consultant. He holds a Master of Arts (Economics) and Bachelor of Arts (Economics) – First Class Honours from the University of Nairobi. Professionally, he is Certified Public Accountants (CPA (K), Certified Investment and Financial Analyst and Certified Public Secretaries CPS (K). He is a member of the Institute of the Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), Institute of the Certified Investment and Financial Analysts (ICIFA) and Institute of the Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya (ICPSK). Rogers is the current Chairperson of the Audit Committee of TSC and serves in the Board of CIC Insurance Group. He brings on board skills in strategy formulation, monitoring and evaluation and financial control and audit. With a keen interest in youth empowerment, Rogers is intent on participating in development of new programs to address the mental wellbeing of the youth, which is a core interest of Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya.
Rosemary Gathara
Executive Director & Secretary to the Board
Rosemary is a health and development professional with extensive experience in the non-government sector leading national campaigns on policy development and implementation, social marketing (motivating low-income and highrisk communities to adopt healthy behavior, products and services) and project cycle management. She has participated in Malaria, HIV, WASH and NCD health campaigns at community and policy levels. Before her current role, Rosemary led the Kenya Association for People with Epilepsy. Rosemary is a graduate Nutritionist. She contributed to The Handbook of Social Work and Social Development in Africa and is an Epilepsy Foundation Shark Tank winner.
Dr. Boniface Chitayi
Board Member
Dr. Chitayi is a Consultant Psychiatrist and currently the President of the Kenya Psychiatric Association, the Mental Health Advisor to the National Committee on Criminal Justice Reforms and a member of the national steering committee on alternatives to incarceration for persons who use drugs in contact with the criminal justice system. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and a Master of Medicine in Psychiatry, both from the University of Nairobi. He also holds awards for Best Student in Master of Medicine in Psychiatry at the University of Nairobi for the academic year 2017/18 and Champion of Change during the 2021 Kenya Psychiatric Association Mental Health Awards. Boniface has been trained on the World Health Organisation QualityRights program and Mental Health Leadership and Advocacy by the WHO collaborating centre of Ibadan University, Nigeria, as well as in Leadership by the African College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He was a member of the organizing team of the Kenya National Mental Health Conference, 2019 and presided over the Kenya Psychiatric Association Annual Scientific Conference in the years 2021 and 2022. He has more than 12 years of experience as a doctor with 8 years working in mental health providing Psychiatric services and has been a frequent columnist on mental health with articles published in major local newspapers.
Dr. Susan Muthoni Magada
Board Member
Dr. Magada holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery and a master’s degree in Psychiatry and Mental Health both from the University of Nairobi. She has wide experience working as a consultant psychiatrist in different hospitals in Kenya and, worked at the Ministry of Health as the Deputy Director of Mental Health. Following the promulgation of the Kenya Constitution 2010, Susan became a pioneer County Executive Committee Member for Health in Mūranga County and served as CECM until 2017. Following her retirement from the civil service, she is now a private practitioner based in Nairobi. She specializes in general clinical psychiatry, also providing other mental health services to the community.
Babra Louis Ati
Board Member
Ati has 5 years’ experience in the human rights field. She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and holds a Post-Graduate Diploma from the Kenya School of Law, Law Graduate from the University of Nairobi and Certificates in Disability Rights, African Human Rights System and Mental Health, Human Rights & Recovery from the University of Pretoria and WHO consecutively. She has also served at KNCHR as a Human Rights Officer where some of her accomplishments included review of Bills and legislations including the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2018 and Persons with Disabilities Bill 2017. Ati has experience in creating awareness on disability rights through strategic litigation, conducting trainings on accessibility and disability rights and lobbying for laws and policies that are disability inclusive. Currently, she is the Chief Operations Officer at the Ulemavu Research Institute; a disability research and consultancy firm. She is a member of the Law Society of Kenya, Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee (IACC) on disability, Amnesty International Kenya and Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Network. Ati is immensely passionate about improving physical and digital accessibility for Persons with Disabilities and has advocated for the development of accessible websites, policy frameworks to enable digital inclusion and adaptability in the functionality of products and services.
Naomi Anyango
Board Member
Naomi I. Anyango is a passionate practitioner in the field of Mental Health and holds an MSc. In Clinical Psychology and a diploma in Social Work. She divides her time between clinical practice and consulting. In her clinical practice she delivers cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and other evidence-based treatments to adults, children and adolescent clients with a wide range of emotional, behavioural, adjustment, addictive and psychosocial problems. She has provided supervision to both psychologists and social workers as they acquired skills to deliver psychosocial support to clients in both public and private practice as well as consulting on mental health programs for communities. She is also a professional member of the Clinical Psychologists Association of Kenya (CPAK) and Kenya Medical Social Workers Association (KEMSWA).
Meet our A Team
Rosemary Gathara
Executive Director
Rosemary is a health and development professional with extensive experience in the non-government sector, leading national campaigns on policy development and implementation, social marketing (motivating low-income and highrisk communities to adopt healthy behavior, products and services) and project cycle management. She has participated in Malaria, HIV, WASH and NCD health campaigns at community and policy levels. Before her current role, Rosemary led the Kenya Association for People with Epilepsy. Rosemary is a graduate Nutritionist. She contributed to The Handbook of Social Work and Social Development in Africa and is an Epilepsy Foundation Shark Tank winner.
Ndocha Mugoya
Finance and Administration Manager
Ndocha is a professional in the field of finance, accounting and administration with over 10 years of experience in budgeting and forecasting, internal controls, financial reporting, procurement and logistics, audit, corporate governance, risk management and project management. He is currently entrusted with the responsibility of running the critical functions of finance, human resources, and information technology. Before joining BNBR Kenya, he served in various organizations in different capacities such as Projects & Administration Accountant at ADRA Kenya and Mozambique country offices, Treasurer to the Board of Amazing Minds Africa and as a Board member at Garden of Hope Foundation. Ndocha holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in strategic management at Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology and CPA from Strathmore University. During his free time, Ndocha loves participating in marathons, reading and collecting books, travelling, cycling and spending time in the countryside.
Geoffrey Khira
Programs Manager
Khira Geoffrey is a passionate mental health and human rights advocate with a professional background as a Medical Psychologist, Clinical Researcher and Programs Manager. He strives to make a significant impact in improving mental health service provision in Kenya, region and globally. For more than 5 years, he has been championing for the rights of persons with lived mental health experience and support, additionally offering services that are aimed at addressing the gaps in mental health care.
His role at Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya as Programs Manager has been extensive from designing to implementing programs aimed at addressing mental health challenges among youth and the broader society, whilst working with diverse stakeholders, including educational institutions, policymakers, health professionals, relevant advocates and stakeholders and the wider local communities. He leads all capacity building initiatives and trainings of different target audiences, and subsequent needs assessments and reporting plus the curriculum development and delivery on matters mental health.
He is also dedicated to global mental health advocacy as he seats on the Advisory Board of the Global Mental Health Action Network, representing the African continent. His role allows him to collaborate with other influential advocates and researchers worldwide, ultimately amplifying the impact of his work in Kenya. Additionally, he was recognized for his exceptional abilities and was handpicked to participate in a prestigious mentorship/fellowship program with the Ember Foundation, further honing his skills and expanding his knowledge in the field of mental health and human rights.
Jefferson Ponde
Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Research Officer
Jefferson has over five years of experience in Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation having supported the implementation of governance, health, and livelihoods programs for a number of funding agencies, including the Global Fund, USAID, and UKAID. He has worked for Africa Capacity Alliance, Keeping Alive Societies Hope, and World Vision Kenya, ensuring the implementation of measurement and evaluation frameworks as well as the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data to provide a comprehensive picture of program performance. Jefferson Holds an undergraduate Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Health from Kenyatta University and certifications in various professional courses, including Monitoring and Evaluation, Project Cycle Management, Salesforce administration, Research Ethics among others.
Eugene Wanekeya
Communications and Advocacy Officer | Safeguarding Lead
Eugene is a versatile Communications, Marketing and Advocacy Specialist with over 10 years of experience working with teams across government, multinational corporations, non-profit organizations and SMEs. He has coordinated the development and execution of successful awareness and behaviour change campaigns across multiple sectors, with his ability to seamlessly integrate into any multicultural corporate context, enhancing his ability over the years to comfortably and exceptionally deliver results.
Eugene holds a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication from Daystar University.
Job Monyoncho
Social Enterprise Officer
Job is a results-driven professional with a proven track record of success. With a creative mindset and strong problem-solving skills, he excels in developing visionary solutions. His extensive experience in Business Development highlights his ability to drive portfolio growth.
Job is a dedicated team player with a strong work ethic. His innovative concepts and commitment to community impact make him a valuable asset for this role that requires strategic thinking and impactful project execution.
Job is versatile, hands on, and always ready to take up any challenge and that’s the energy he brings to our family!
Judy Kariuki
Project Officer, Mental Health & Well Being (Medical/Clinical)
Judy is a diligent and focused professional with over 10 years of experience in developing community centered approaches in health care. She holds a Master of Science in International Public Health and Clinical Medicine and Surgery. A Bible verse a day, keeps her beaming!
Dennis Mwiti
Project Officer, Community Mental Health
Dennis is a community development professional with vast experience in community animation, group development for persons with mental illness, case finding, organizing the participation of the community and community-based workers in social care and home management, and leading vulnerable communities to equitably participate in socioeconomic development. He participates in the establishment of mental health outreach clinics and advocates for the social inclusion of people with mental illness and other disabilities.
Dennis has trained on child rights for CBOs, FBOs and youth groups and participated in youth mentorship fellowship programs. He has also previously worked with the Ministry of Social Services, Rehabilitation of Young Street Boys and with organizations in informal settlements to enhance people’s lives and livelihood. Before his current role, he served as Program Assistant in various projects within the organization.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Community Development from Moi University.
Erick Ochieng
Project Officer, Sustainable Livelihoods
Eric is a hands-on Community Development Officer enthusiastically working in collaboration with all players for the purpose of achieving a productive connection with the community. He has over five years of experience working with rural small holder farmers in socioeconomic empowerment programs with a focus on livelihoods and mental health. In addition, Eric has over ten years of experience in conducting participatory Intergraded Community Development trainings for various community populations, having worked extensively as a field officer with Western Kenya Community Driven and Flood Mitigation project.
He is also versed in Behavior Change Communication programs with a focus on Sexual Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS and WASH majorly working with youth and married adolescents. Prior to joining Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya, Eric worked as SRHR advocacy officer with Center for the study of Adolescents (CSA) and as HIV/AIDS and Malaria prevention program focal officer with Populations Services Kenya (PSK). As a community development worker, Eric is well experienced on the use of appropriate target population interaction approaches that factors the socio-economic and cultural status of the audience. Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Development Studies from Mt. Kenya University, and a diploma in Social Work and Community Development. His interests include performing, scripting and directing theatre art works.
Julian Onyango
Project Officer, Rights-based Approaches
Julian has over 15 years of experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating behavioral intervention programs to support health and well-being outcomes. He is committed to promoting the integration of the rights-based approach in community mental health programs.
OJ also offers lived experience leadership in BNBR's mental health and well-being programs and is trained in community development and counselling.
Maureen Asembo
Research Associate
Judah Njoroge
Youth Engagement Officer
Judah is a dynamic mental health innovator with a proven history of implementing tailored solutions. His expertise in Information Technology and Mental Health enables the creation of intelligent, people-centric solutions. Enthusiastic about challenges, he excels in systemic and sustainable thinking, crafting contextualized, youth-centric projects. As the Youth Engagement Officer at Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya, he designs meaningful youth involvement strategies and coordinates implementation of the WHO QualityRights program. His commitment extends to global initiatives, with a focus on synergizing mental health interventions in advancing global health equity.
Paul Ochieng'
Finance Officer
Paul Ochieng’ is a finance practitioner with over 5 years of experience in nonprofit accounting and finance practices. He has previously served as a finance assistant and finance intern at Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya, and as an intern at the Credit Control Department of a major university institution. Paul is passionate about mental health and is an advocate in denouncing stigma and discrimination against people with mental health conditions. He is committed to advocating for the rights of persons with, survivors of, and persons at increased risk of having mental disorders in the community.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce – Finance Option from the Multimedia University of Kenya.
Janerose Motende
Finance Assistant
Eunice Muthoni
Administrative Assistant
Eunice is currently the longest serving member of staff at Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya having been with the organization for over 17 years. She has vast experience in workplace housekeeping, livelihoods training for marginalized communities, and coordinating community participation in socio-economic development through occupational therapy. She also supports the finance and programs teams in filing, clerical duties and logistics. She is also a trained chef and uses this skill to work with people with psychosocial disabilities as part of their recovery and restoration activities.
Martin Mungai
Logistics Officer
An alumni of the Ministry of Public Works and Mechanics School, Martin has over 25 years of experience in the motor vehicle industry, having trained in motor vehicle mechanics up to grade one, worked as mechanics trainee at South End Motors and later joining the team. He joined Jesuits Refugees Services and later worked for Amani Counselling Center for 14 years as a driver. He currently coordinates logistics at Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya, and also works as a driver in the organization, though this for him is more of a passion than a job.
