1 ELGEYO MARAKWET COUNTY IN KENYA Public Participation

1 ELGEYO MARAKWET COUNTY IN KENYA Public Participation Practices & Experiences Presenter: John Maritim, Director of Economic Planning 11/05/2017

Kenya’s Profile 2 One of the countries in East Africa Land area: 582, 646 Sq. Km Population: 47 million people GDP USD: 65 Billion GDP per Capita (USD): 1, 500 Economic Growth: 5. 6% Poverty level: 40% of population Development challenges: poverty, inequality, climate change, and vulnerability to internal and external economic shocks

Kenya’s Governance Structure 3 Two tier governance system; 1 national government and 47 county governments National Government: Organs; Executive, legislature & Judiciary Mandates; International affairs & trade, defence, internal security, education (except ECDE), judicial processes County Governments: Organs; Executive & legislature Mandates; Health, agriculture, feeder roads Both levels are distinct but interdependent

National Planning Framework 4 Vision 2030 is the long term economic policy framework It targets to make Kenya a globally competitive and prosperous nation with a high quality of life for all Anchored on economic, social and political pillars: Economic Pillar – anticipates a sustained growth rate of 10% yearly to 2030 Social Pillar – seeks to create a just, cohesive and equitable social development Political Pillar – issue-based, people centred, result oriented and accountable democracy Vision 2030 implemented through 5 year Medium Term Plans (MTPs)

Elgeyo Marakwet County Profile 5 Area: 3030 Km square Population: 460, 092 Poverty level: 52% Legislature: 20 elected & 10 nominated members and speaker Roles; representation, legislation and oversight Executive: led by the Governor has 9 ministers (policy makers), Chief Officers, Directors and other staff Administrative Units; 4 Sub-counties, 20 Wards, 70 locations and 160 villages

County Planning Framework 6 Guided by a 5 -year County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) Priorities identified in a an inclusive and participatory process CIDP priorities aligned to; Kenya Vision 2030 Medium-Term Plans (5 -year) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Other planning documents; Sectoral plans and spatial plans Priorities are integrated to include partners and investors participation

Constitution and Legal Framework on Fiscal Management 7 Constitution of Kenya: Article 201 provides for openness and accountability, including public participation in financial matters County Government Act 2012: Section 115 provides for mandatory public participation in the county planning process Public Finance Management Act 2012: Section 126 guides county governments on integrated development planning that includes strategic priorities identified in a participatory way Urban Areas & Cities Act 2012: Urban areas and cities must institutionalized active participation of its residents in the management of its affairs

County Public Participation Legislative Framework 8 County Public Participation Act 2014 established; Institutional organs for public participation Processes and tools for public participation Platform for memorandum submissions and petitions filing Public participation financing mechanisms Reporting framework

Public Participation Processes Targeted Outcomes 9 Informed citizen priorities Enhanced equitable development process Effective and efficient service delivery by government Enhanced innovations and best practice replication Public ownership of developments and thus sustainability Curb negligence, corruption and un-ethical governance practices Improved quality of policies being developed Reduced citizen lamentations on governance Reduced conflicts between the executive and legislative arms of governments

Types of County Public Participation Processes 10 Budget Processes Monitoring and evaluation processes Law enactment processes Open forums (County Hall meetings)

Budget Process PP Practice (Pre-2015) 11 One held for each of the 20 Wards Open to all without discrimination Communication done early via notices, Radio & Print media Dissemination of budget documents not done before date Pre-prepared proposals by sectors for each Ward Each Ward’s eventual allocations not guaranteed On the D-Day participants do not break into groups Government officials gave justifications of pre-proposals Minimal changes to pre- proposals

PP Practice (Pre-2015) Successes 12 Created public awareness on citizens civic duties including participation in development processes Complied with the Constitutional and legal provisions on public participation Improved communication and feedback mechanisms

13 Civic Duty Institutionalizing Public Participation

PP Practice (Pre-2015) Challenges 14 q q Regional representations during unbalanced and skewed Special interest groups – women, youth, PWDs representation at forums not guaranteed Minimal participation by elected leaders Huge amendments later of budget priorities by political representatives at the County Assembly Minimal participation by non-state actors and civil society groups Too much technical officers influence on priorities Regional bias in allocations and thus skewed developments Minimal quality engagement due to non-prior dissemination of budget documents

Actions Taken to address Challenges 15 q q Formal invitation to special interest groups, political leaders and non-state development actors to attend Dissemination of simplified budget documents prior o forum dates Enactment of the Equitable Development Act (EDA), 2015 to; Equitably allocate funds to Wards based a formula with parameters (population, poverty, area, facilities access. . ) Guarantee funding of budget priorities Institutionalize public participation in project identification, prioritization, implementation and oversight of projects Establish relevant development committees

Inspiration for EDA (2015) Act 16

Budget PP (Post-2015) Guiding Principles 17 Representation and Inclusivity Openness Citizens stewardship Guaranteed funding Diversity Accessibility Feedback and response

Pre-Public Participation Preparation 18 Announcements, adverts (radio, newspapers) & notices Targeted invitations to political leaders and non-state actors Inventory of completed and on-going projects per Ward Distribution of simplified budget documents Preparation of sector priority proposals based on development indicators of respective Wards Updating of projects cost per unit reference list Mobilization exercises – loudspeakers and churches Briefing of PP team members

19 Mobilization Strategy Public Announcements on dates and venues

Order of Business On the PP D-Day 20 Prayer and introductions Opening speeches by team leaders, local government officers and political representatives Brief on the completed and on-going projects by government and non-state actors Presentation on budget process and resource envelop as per EDA Act 2015 From total allocation to the Ward 60% is divided between locations or villages Participants break into groups (Locations or villages)

Order of Business On the PP D-Day cont’ 21 Participants prioritize without technical officers influence but provided with pre-prepared proposals 40% of Ward allocation decided at plenary but guided by technical officers’ proposals Agreed budget priorities resolutions signing Copies of prioritized projects given to community leaders

22 Technical Presentation at a public participation Interactive process

23 Ownership of agreed issues Signing of Priorities

Post-Public Participation Activities 24 q q Prioritized list submitted to County Assembly (legislative arm) for approval Publicization and documentation of citizen priorities After approval by County Assembly; q Communities are mobilized to form projects management committees q Technical documents are designed for each project q Procurement processes q Projects implementation and technical assessments q Monitoring and evaluation

Impacts of PP On Citizens 25 Increased participation because of the guaranteed funding Safeguarding of issues for the minorities and the special interest groups Enhanced social audits by citizens and thus improved service delivery standards Enhanced citizens participation in projects implementation and M&E thus ownership and sustainability of projects

Impacts of PP to the Government 26 Increase of approval rates of citizens’ priorities by County Assembly (legislative arm) Enhanced participation by political leaders Has improved service delivery processes and other governance processes Has informed policy formulations and legislations Reduced conflicts between the Executive and legislative arms Has created platform for partnerships Inspired adoption of international best practices such as Participatory budgeting and Open Government Partnerships

27 Robust Participation Desired Outcomes

Impacts of PP to Non-State Actors 28 Created a platform for partnerships Created an entry point to test and implement best practices Guards against duplication of projects and thus wastage and/or corrupt practices

29 Partnerships in Public Participation Development Partners and Interest Groups

Outstanding Challenges …. . 30 Un-balanced regional, minorities and special interest groups representation Management of memoranda submissions through the internet and social media platforms No full participation by politicians citing separation of powers principle What value of priorities need to be decided each by the citizens and by central planning? Transiting prioritization enthusiasm to implementation and monitoring and evaluation stages High cost of participation has curtailed doing them at village levels

What has not worked? 31 Priorities voting system – due to non-representative participation at the forums Public participation forums dedicated to children Joint public participation by all development actors including; non-state actors and national government

Lessons Learned. . and thus OGP Commitments 32 q Need to address the representation challenge by; § § § q Adopting a delegates system approach with representation from all segments of population Developing a delegates list of participants to add to open attendees Holding of budget prioritizations at village level Need for a policy to; § § Manage prioritization memoranda submitted through post, emails and social media Address petitions that may arise after prioritizations

Our OGP Commitments 33 Elgeyo Marakwet County is one of the 15 Sub-national governments globally participating in OGP Has 4 commitments for 2017; 1. 2. 3. 4. Robust and representative public participation processes Transparent and accessible budgets Open procurement and projects implementation processes Responsive communication and feedback mechanisms

Robust and Representative Public Participation Processes Targets 34 Constitute a Public Participation technical working committee comprising executive and legislative arms for harmony Develop public participation guidelines & regulations Develop mechanisms for identifying delegates yearly

Transparent & Accessible Budgets Targets 35 Constitute Sector Working Groups that’s includes; government, non-state actors and community representatives Develop updatable projects cost per unit reference list Simplify budget documents Disseminate pre and post budget public participation documents

Open Procurement & Projects Implementation Processes Targets 36 Publish list of prequalified suppliers and successful contractors for projects Publish awarded contracts list with technical estimates Publish Projects Management Committee members Publish project supervisory reports for projects Publish project implementation status reports using a projects’ monitoring and evaluation dashboard software

Responsive Communication & Feedback Mechanisms Targets 37 Establish complaints and compliments committee Design internal protocols to formalize citizens feedback through social media platforms Identity Ward-based Feedback Champions to spread the word Engage civil society and citizen oversight forums at village levels

Why are adopting Participatory Budgeting? 38 To enhanced capacity of stakeholders to conduct and manage budget public participation processes To increase political goodwill in the budgeting processes To increase citizen outreach in budgeting processes To increase development ownership and thus sustainability To appreciate that citizens link tax payments with voice on development initiatives

39 END THANK YOU