Kenya needs to strengthen its legal framework for public participation, moving beyond mere consultation to ensure meaningful and cost effective citizen engagement.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said as a country there is need to review and audit the cost-effectiveness of public participation processes both at the national, county level and beyond.
Mudavadi said the Kenyan Constitution of 2010 recognizes public participation as a key national value and principle of governance but focus should not only be on inclusivity, transparency, and accountability but also the price tag that comes with the exercise.
“As we reflect on this noble endeavor, we must appreciate that public participation has also come along with unique challenges. This means government has to balance between accelerated development and at the same time make sure citizens are part and parcel of the engagements.” noted Mudavadi.
He cautioned that public participation has sometimes been perceived as a mere formality, rather than a genuine effort to involve citizens in decision-making not forgetting that the cost implications also impact the tax-payers.
This he said has left government and its institutions grappling with the balance between citizen engagement in policy formulation and programs implementation as compared to service delivery.
“As government we cannot undertake any piece of legislation or push any policy decision or even take up a development programme without the involvement of the citizens through public participation. You must talk to the people, engage and disclose what you want to undertake and similarly listen to the citizens by allowing them to have an input and a say in what the government intends to do.” said Mudavadi.
Adding that “The catch is when questions arise on what will it cost to go through the process to have public participation since the government through the originating ministries and state departments undertake public participation through stake holder engagement in developing the policy paper, then you go through public participation in developing the piece of legislation that is submitted to parliament where parliament again it is mandated and obligated to undertake public participation, thereafter the piece of legislation is debate and if there are statutory instruments needed again it calls for public participation, and if there is need for subsidiary legislation the process has to undergo public participation.”
Mudavadi was speaking during the High Level 2025 Open Government Partnership; Africa and Middle East Regional Ministerial Meeting in Nairobi.
Mudavadi said that as part of the need for accelerated development, a recent audit of the state Department for Parliamentary Affairs under his office had identified 700 pieces of legislation or amendment under the Government Legislative Agenda (GLA) to align laws.
“In Kenya we have the department for Parliamentary Affairs under the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, which is tasked to effect a robust reform agenda and we have scoped that each Ministry brings or designs its priorities in terms of the legislative agenda. So far, we have a record of over 700 pieces of legislation that require either an amendment or a fresh overhaul of the legislation.” he told the meeting.
“This means even if you have a robust parliament which is very pro-efficient you will have to figure out how fast or cost effective you will achieve tangible results keeping in mind that public participation has to accompany each of the review or else the courts will through the law out and term it unconstitutional.” added Mudavadi.
Mudavadi explained that from the feedback after engaging the ministries to tabulate the cost effectiveness for reviewing one legislation in relation to the public participation exercise, the least costed an estimated Ksh 10 million, others depending on the complexity quoted between Ksh 50 million and Ksh 100 million.
“Democracy is expensive and it is the best mode but when we did calculations, we multiplied with the lowest figure and the totals ran into Ksh 7 billion on average. Now the question is if public participation is going to cost 7 billion at the lowest, how do you choose between public participation and supplying drugs in hospitals, building a bridge or supplying farmers with inputs.” he regretted.
“Factor in billions the ministries, Senate and County Assembly will use and you realise that some of the cash would have gone into buying drugs, bursaries for needy students, roads and water provision for the people, it is a big debate that we must have as country and identify a cheaper way citizen engagements,” said Mudavadi.
He noted that democracy is under pressure and emerging threats including climate change, generative artificial intelligence and escalating conflicts, are reshaping the global landscape.
He said there is an urgent need for individual countries to reflect on the unprecedented uncertainties and vulnerabilities that are likely to constrain the collective journey to shared prosperity.
