Public Participation, Legislative and Fiscal Openness (KE0037)

Brief Description of the Commitment

The commitment broadly aims to enhance transparency, inclusion, public participation, and accountability in legislative, debt, and budget processes, with a view of building open and trusting relations between lawmakers and citizens at both national and county levels.

Problem Definition

Public participation and access to information are central tenets provided in the Constitution as means of enhancing transparency, accountability, and inclusion. Whilst this has been implemented, public participation remains problematic, without a defined framework for ensuring its meaningfulness. Timelines given are usually too short, there is no mechanism to confirm that public input has been considered into the bills, and it is not possible to disaggregate public participation data in terms of different demographics such as gender/age/region. Additionally, information shared for public participation at both levels of government is usually complex and bulky. The process is also more consultative and not collaborative as people do not really shape the conservation and there is no feedback mechanism stipulated. On the issues of fiscal transparency, the public debt process has been opaque, with Parliament’s role being bypassed and with minimal participation from stakeholders. The commitment seeks to strengthen the role of Parliament in the process as well as provide for public participation and robust citizen engagement in the process, including ensuring that public debt is always considered in the budget process. Finally, the commitment seeks to make government agencies simplify the information and documents being shared to enhance broader stakeholder engagement through the use of plain text as well as inclusive language, as well as automation of processes, including on digital platforms. The commitment seeks to address these challenges going beyond public participation to also enhance public oversight and accountability, especially around public debts and budgets.

What are the causes of the problem?

● Lack of national legislation that facilitates a meaningful public participation framework. ● Violation of the law that stipulates mechanisms to engage the public through Parliament in the acquisition and use of public debt. ● Minimum proactive sharing of information on public debt including to Parliament leading to opaqueness. ● Lack of proper framework on debt management that includes the short- and long-term impact of debt to various segments of the population such as Special Interests Groups. ● There is a requirement to operationalize the PBO Act, 2013 to safeguard the civic space and the working environment for Civil Society Organizations. ● Lack of ownership of public participation commitments by different government agencies ● Lack of adequate resources to implement the commitments.

Commitment Description

Creation of the necessary legislative framework for public participation is at the core of realizing meaningful public participation. During the last Action Plan, attempts were made to enact a Public Participation Law but this did not succeed. Automation of legislative processes including the development of a petition tracker was also achieved but this has not resulted into effective consideration of the same. On the issue of Fiscal Transparency, increased civil society agitation on the need for public debt transparency brought the issues to the fore of national discourse. The propose milestones under NAP V will therefore be aimed at leveraging on this background whilst aiming for more ambitious and innovative means of enhancing legislative and fiscal transparency. The Commitment will further leverage on the renewed efforts at enacting a public participation law, establishment of a Public Dand Privation Committee and renewed Civil Society efforts to entrench fiscal transparency.

Proposed Solutions

This commitment aims to significantly expand transparency, accountability, and participatory mechanisms in governance processes and public finance management through comprehensive legislative and policy changes. It builds upon previous initiatives but goes further in scope and depth. Some key solutions proposed include legislated requirements for open public hearings on government loans, frameworks enabling citizens to provide direct input into legislation and budgets, publishing documents in accessible plain language, developing online public consultation portals, strengthened public debt oversight bodies, and empowering the Parliamentary Budget Office to produce alternative budget proposals.

Desired Results

The expected results are sustainable, systemic changes leading to open, participatory and accountable legislative, budgetary and debt processes. The public will be informed and empowered to provide input into budgets and legislation affecting them. The government will justify and be answerable for fiscal decisions and loans. Legislators will become more accessible and engaged with constituents. The Parliamentary Budget Office will provide rigorous analysis and alternative proposals. Overall, this commitment aims to shift legislative and fiscal processes from closed government activities with minimal disclosure, to open public processes with engaged citizen collaboration and oversight.

Commitment Analysis

1. How will the commitment promote transparency? The commitment will significantly improve transparency in legislative, budgetary, and debt processes by introducing public scrutiny through measures such as requiring open hearings on public loans. This will enable the public to access more information on how much is borrowed and how the money is spent. Automating parliamentary processes and providing documents in plain language will also increase transparency.

2. How will commitment help foster accountability? By opening up these previously closed-door processes to public input and monitoring, the commitment will enable citizens and civil society organizations to hold the government accountable. Public agencies involved in legislative, budgetary, and debt processes will have to justify their actions and spending to the public. The inclusion of transparency and accountability measures will further institutionalize greater accountability mechanisms.

3. How will commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? The commitment provides clear frameworks, requirements, and mechanisms for substantive public participation in defining, shaping, and overseeing legislative, budgetary, and debt processes. This enables citizens to collaboratively engage in policy making rather than just be passively consulted. Citizens will be able to directly give input on legislation and budgets, and track spending and outcomes. This facilitates a two-way dialogue between citizens and government with citizen voices integral to decision making.

Commitment Planning (Milestones | Expected Outputs | Expected Completion Date)

Introduce transparency in public borrowing and expenditure by enabling scrutiny of loans through committee public hearings. | Public hearings on public debt in line with the PFM Act, 2012. | December 2024

Conduct an assessment on implications of public debt on special interest groups (Debt and Gender Equality) | A Study on the impact of public debt on special interest groups. Timely reports on the shortand long-term impact on the current public debt | May 2025

Leveraging on digital tools to enhance openness in public borrowing | Interactive platform on public debt. Jihusishe App, Promise Tracker and Publish What you Borrow portals | December 2026

Provide a framework for the Parliamentary Budget Office to publish the alternative budget proposals and ensure Parliament always includes provisions for public debt in the Budget Statements and possible creditors. | Report on the budget items that will be financed through debt and the possible creditors. | October 2026

Making the legislative process more transparent and participatory by having parliament develop a state of parliamentary openness report | Annual state of parliamentary openness (To be included in the National state of openness) | November 2024

Develop a framework to assess the implementation of legislative proposals and legislative needs assessment. | Regular reports on the implementatio n of legislative proposals. | January 2025

Automation of parliamentary processes. Parliament is working to map and make available online processes such as submitting petitions to Parliament as well as memoranda on Bills | An online platform to submit petitions | June 2025

Secure a commitment on use of plain language text in government and parliament documents. | The commitment to be included in the Public Participation bill, 2023. | December 2024

Advocate for the Operationalization of the PBO Act and pursuant regulations. | Development of regulations | June 2025