Action plan – Nandi, Kenya, 2021 – 2022

At-a-Glance

Duration

June 2022

Date Submitted

30th July 2021

Foreword(s)

This Action Plan outlines the County’s long-term Open Government Vision and presents short-term government actions to achieve the vision.  The period of implementation for this initial plan is 1 year and aims to establish the necessary systems and sets the foundation to achieve the Open Government Vision and Goals outlined in this Action Plan. We look forward to developing yet another set of Actions Plans through 2027 to fully realize our Open Government Vision.

The Opportunity to join other government reformers across the World through the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More was an opportune moment for my administration to continue on the path of open government. Since 2017 when this administration formed the government, an open-door policy was implemented across units of governments thus, through the Open Government Partnership, we aim to expand the scope of openness, government efficiency and accountability in serving the people of Nandi County.

We have deliberately, through a joint and collaborative effort by both my government Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), citizens, and other non-state actors, co-created a strategic vision that will guide us in the path of desired openness. We believe that the two commitments contained in this Action Plan are designed to reboot and set our systems to foster an Open and Responsive County government that allow the citizens of Nandi to fully participate in shaping the decisions and the trajectory to deliver for them better livelihoods and a better future.

The County Government of Nandi has been on the path towards achieving some of the Open Government initiatives. Together with NTA, we have created an environment for non-state actors to assess the project implementation performance and to recommend actions for strengthening transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More and accountability.

Open Government Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic Vision

This subsection details the Open Government Strategic Vision in your local area that should guide the commitments for the action plan period.

What is the long-term vision for open government in your context and jurisdiction?

The county government of Nandi envisions an empowered citizenry through an open and responsive local government. The county aspires to provide a benchmark for best practices in civic engagement, open procurement and disclosures of important information that is necessary for informed participation of citizens, effective oversight of government and its officials and the efficiency of government functionality.

What are the achievements in open government to date (for example, recent open government reforms)?

The county government of Nandi has made progress in the following areas towards the achievement of the Vision;

Empowerment of citizens to participate in decision-making.

• Enactment of the Nandi County Public ParticipationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... and Civic EducationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ... Act 2020 to provide a clear roadmap for civic engagement.
• Implemented public participation forums at Sub-County Level to collect citizen’s input into the county’s annual budget.

Open procurement and contracting

• Rolled out e-procurement as required by National Treasury through Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) to promote greater transparency and accountability in public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... More.
• Reserved 30% of the county’s procurement budget for enterprises owned by youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More, women and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
• Piloted fast-tracking of payments for contracts awarded to enterprises owned by Youth, Women and Persons with Disability as part of its efforts to reduce barriers that hinder the full implementation of the AGPO policy and other relevant affirmative actions.

Transparency, accountability and responsiveness.

• Established Toll-Free call centre to provide feedback mechanism and offer timely address of public concerns in the public service deliveryTo ensure that citizens of all groups are better supported by the government, OGP participating governments are working to improve the quality of and access to public services. Commitments in this are... More chain.
• Digitized key processes and information including such as list of public projects
• Established working relationships with civil society organizations to create an enabling environment for advancing public transparency and accountability.

What are the current challenges/areas for improvement in open government that the jurisdiction wishes to tackle

1. Inadequate buy-in for open government reforms to achieve the vision
2. Budget and policy documents are voluminous and technical budgets thus hinder access and usage of budget data and information by ordinary citizens to effectively participate and engage with the government.
3. A centralized public participation structure which is  inaccessible to the majority of citizens, especially special interest groups who face additional economic and physical barriers that limit their ability to participate.
4. Inadequate disclosure of public procurement records and information, budget, policy and development data. Participation of contractors and suppliers is low while procurement systems and processes are inadequately structured to deliver transparent, fair competition and accountable procurement outcomes.

What are the medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve?

The county government will reform and strengthen relevant governance systems, processes and institutions that are key to the achievement of the county’s open government vision. This ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... is outlined in the four-goal plan below.

Goal 1: Achieve 100% representation of youth, women and persons with disability in the county’s budget and economic policies by 2027. Over the medium term, the county will adopt and implement a Participatory Budgeting Model to empower citizens and present real opportunities for advancing citizen’s voices and embed greater government responsibility and accountability into the system of governance.

Goal 2: Utilize public procurement as an economic empowerment instrument for special interest groups. We will implement a transparent, competitive procurement system that is accountable to the citizens of Nandi County.

Goal 3: Increase the efficiency of public spending by sealing loopholes and leakage in financial management systems. We will empower citizens and civil society to hold the government accountable on the decisions it takes, especially budgets and economic policy priorities and their outcomes.

Goal 4. Institutionalize Open Government Reforms. We will create awareness and cultivate buy-in across government and nurture a culture that advances open government initiatives. We will begin by incorporating deliverables of open government initiatives into staff performance contracts as a key measure of open government culture.

How does this action plan contribute to achieve the Open Government Strategic Vision?

The commitments contained in this action plan aims to establish the necessary systems and set the necessary foundation for implementing actions that deliver the goals outlined in the previous sections of the Action Plan. Specifically, the commitments and the actions in this action will address identified gaps and address the basics for each of the four goals in the Strategic Vision. Under the first goal, the Action Plan will reform the current participatory structure to create an enabling environment for the rollout of Participatory Budgeting (PB) – a participatory model in which citizens directly allocate a portion of government budget. Under the second goal, the county government will test-run reforms to the procurement system to deliver accountable procurement outcomes while under goal three and four, the action will institutionalize open government across government and create necessary infrastructure for greater government openness and accountability of public officials.

How does the open government strategic vision contribute to the accomplishment of the current administration’s overall policy goals?

The commitments contained in this action plan aims to establish the necessary systems and set the necessary foundation for implementing actions that deliver the goals outlined in the previous sections of the Action Plan. Specifically, the commitments and the actions in this plan will address identified gaps and address the basics for each of the four goals in the Strategic Vision. Under the first goal, the Action Plan will reform the current participatory structure to create an enabling environment for the rollout of Participatory Budgeting (PB) – a participatory model in which citizens directly allocate a portion of government budget. Under the second goal, the county government will test-run reforms to the procurement system to deliver accountable procurement outcomes while under goal three and four, the action will institutionalize open government across government and create necessary infrastructure for greater government openness and accountability of public officials.

Engagement and Coordination in the Open Government Strategic Vision and OGP Action Plan

Please list the lead institutions responsible for the implementation of this OGP action plan.

• Office of the Chief Officer, ICT & e-Government
• Office of the Chief Officer, Economic Planning
• Office of the Chief Officer, Finance
• Office of the Chief Officer, Administration and Public Service

What kind of institutional arrangements are in place to coordinate between government agencies and departments to implement the OGP action plan?

There are two Committees established to coordinate between government agencies and departments, they are:

• Steering CommitteeThe Steering Committee is OGP’s executive decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests; establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and ru...– composed of Chief Officers in the key Departments
• Technical Committee– composed of technical staff directly related to the two commitments

What kind of spaces have you used or created to enable the collaboration between government and civil society in the co-creation and implementation of this action plan? Mention both offline and online spaces.

Action Plan implementation structure

The county has established a Multistakeholder Forum to provide institutional structure for implementation of the action plan. The Forum is composed of 11 members – five (5) of whom are drawn from the public sector while the other five represent various interest groups including civil society, business community and organized groups of citizens.  The County Governor is the permanent Chair to the Forum. An appointed Point of Contact (POC) provides overall coordination internally and externally.

The Multistakeholder Forum is segmented into thematic groups responsible for various implementation roles and responsibilities as discussed below.

1. Implementation theme: There are two thematic groups established to implement the specific commitments in the action plan and the containing milestone activities. The membership of each thematic group is strategically selected to ensure that the necessary resources including expertise, knowledge and finances are available within the theme to support proper implementation.
2. Resource mobilization theme: A resource mobilization committee has been established to lead resourcing for the implementation of the commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... and their respective milestones. The main role of the committee is to identify resource gaps in the implementation structure and develop remedies including proposal development to secure financial, technical, material  support required for successful implementation of the Action Plan.

What measures did you take to ensure diversity of representation (including vulnerable or marginalized populations) in these spaces?

The county has established a Multistakeholder Forum to provide institutional structure for implementation of the action plan. The Forum is composed of 11 members – five (5) of whom are drawn from the public sector while the other five represent various interest groups including civil society, business community and organized groups of citizens. To establish the forum, it was through a series of meeting where all special interest groups where present and they did second names of members to the forum, also, the following bodies participated to second members to the forum:

• Nandi County Civil Society network- A network with a membership of all Civil society organizations working in nandi County
• Nandi Chamber of Commerce and Industry- With a membership of the business community
• Women Groups
• Youth Groups
• PWDs groups

Who participated in these spaces?

• National Taxpayers Association(NTA)
• Nandi County Civil Society network
• Nandi Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Women Groups
• Youth Groups
• PWDs groups
• Members of Staff

How many groups participated in these spaces?

5

How many public-facing meetings were held in the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive...?

4

How will government and non-governmental stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan?

The following mechanisms  have  been put in place:

• MOU  between NTA and Nandi County will ensure implementation of the plan
• Forums through MSF will be used to ensure other non-governmental organization use to collaborate through the implementation

Please describe the independent Monitoring Body you have identified for this plan.

An oversight committee has been appointed to work with the Open Government Partnership (OGP)’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... to independently assess and report on the action plan co-creation and implementation. The membership of the oversight committee is composed of three (3) members drawn from civil society and government departments which are not directly involved in the implementation of the Action Plan.  The committee has been empowered by the county’s political leadership to perform this mandate.

The Independent Reporting Committee, with the guidance of IRM and the OGP Support UnitThe OGP Support Unit is a small, permanent group of staff that work closely with the Steering Committee and the Independent Reporting Mechanism to advance the goals of the Open Government Partnership.... will develop an assessment indicator system for assessing progress and a digital reporting template for thematic committees. Where possible, the reporting templates will embed public feedback mechanisms.

Each thematic committee will submit a progress report or any other information as may be desired, to the Independent Reporting Committee on quarterly basis from which the Independent Reporting Committee will assess, compile and consolidate a quarterly report using the indicator system and table the report at the Multistakeholder Forum’s quarterly meeting and subsequently submit to the relevant OGP organs

At each quarterly meeting, the Chairperson of the Multistakeholder Forum will issue a media briefing outlining progress made in the quarter against the quarterly plan, identify challenges and mitigative measures.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

• Felix Maiyo, Ag. Director, Performance Contracting Unit, maiyo.felix@gmail.com

What types of activities will you have in place to discuss progress on commitments with stakeholders?

• Multistakeholder Forum sessions
• Seminars and Workshops
• Online and virtual meetups

How will you regularly check in on progress with implementing agencies?

• POC and the steering committee will frequently hold briefing meetings with Technical Committee to discuss progress of implementation
• Use of performance contracting to ensure targets are set for all heads implementing commitments

How will you share the results of your monitoring efforts with the public?

• Online portal created http://www.opengov.nandicounty.go.ke where all reports will be shared with the public
• Toll Free Call Centre 1548 will be available for the public to call and ask for specific information, outbound calls, bulk SMS will also be used.
• Ward and Sub County Open Days will be used for an all of government approach to have the public interact with the government
• Use of local media to publish results

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Fransisca Marabu, Coordinator, National Taxpayers Association
• Timothy, Projects Manager, Open Governance Institute
• Shadrack Tarno, Coordinator, Nandi Civil Society Network

NANDI COUNTY OGP ACTION PLAN 2021
OGP Local Nandi – Input Form