Mijadala Dialogues Series

Improving the Quality of Citizen Engagement in Kenya: Promise, Reality and Prospects Policy Brief 1 on Public Participation Based on Six Case Studies

SWhy the research? The research is an examination of the Constitutional promise of participation vs. what exists in reality. Public participation is recognised by the Constitution of Kenya as a civic right and responsibility in Art 1 (1) (2), a national value Art 10 (1), a key principle of public finance Art 20 1(a), Arts. 124, 196, 232, require key legislative bodies to open their deliberations to the public. Constitution provides public with easy access to courts, right to form associations (Art 36), demonstrate, picket and petition (Art 37), recall legislators (Art 104), and protect the Constitution through referendum (Art 252 and 257)Four years since the promulgation of the Constitution, this covenant seems elusive, suffocated by tokenistic participation strategies, disrespect for the rule of law and open tensions between the national Government and the county Governments. 42 counties are yet to pass legislation on public participation. Citizens on the other hand, appear unable to seize the opportunities availed to them through the constitution and influence public policy making processes. Notable civic voices argue that the space for citizens engagement is gradually shrinking. Consequently, public participation remains low at 5.7 % (between June 2012 and 2013).

We hold weekly live Tweet chats every Friday between 11am-12pm. The chats usually moderated and focus on either one of the four constitutional promises of: Public Participation, Equality, Integrity and Devolution.

2The case-studies SID examined the gap between the promise of participation vs. its reality through six relationships and processes over 2014:Case Study 1: Advocating for the commencement of the PBO Act (2013) without contentious amendments;Case Study 2: Contesting restrictive medial laws;Case Study 3: Organisation of health workers to challenge devolution of health;Case Study 4: Community Organizations as active citizenship: The case of Mustard Seed Community Organization (MSCO);Case Study 5: Organisation of the Turkana Community to challenge Tullow Oil Company operations;Case Study 6: Community participation and contestation of the Kiambu County Finance Act.

To filter all the chatter on Twitter into a single conversation we use a hashtag. We use 4 primary hashtages

We try to go for unique and easy remember hashtags. Unique in the sense that the tweet chat wont interfere with another conversation that may be off topic.

3Why the six cases? The six cases were selected to reflect public participation at both national and county levels. They illustrate the opportunities presented by the Constitution, particularly in relation to public participation, and the extent to which that has translated to active, free and meaningful participation. They illustrate diverse constitutional mechanisms used for public participation (including protests, associations, petitions, courts, county consultative meetings, lobbying MPs) and utilisation of different spaces (closed, invited and open spaces) to participate. The significance of these cases lies in their attempts to expand democratic space, the national or global significance of the issues they address and the number of people affected by their interventions. It is also important to note, that while each of these case studies has been trying to advance its agenda for at least two years or so, none has fully realised its objective.

We hold three types of tweetchatsTweet chats that bring leaders and citizens to one space and engage (County Governors, Senators, Civil Society Organisations) Deliberative tweet chats where participants brainstorm on a discussion topicQuestion and Answer (Q&A) centered chats that are aimed at providing help and information.

4Methodology The study relied on semi-structured interviews and FGDs with 31 purposively sampled respondents involved in the six case studies. To validate information from interviews, secondary sources of data related to the six cases were reviewed. Observation The zero draft was discussed by a group of researchers, community actors, CSOs, State and research advisors.

They are a place where participants can find new connections with other participants who share similar interests. Safe space for brain stormingLearning space mainly for academics

5Effective Participation: Active, free and meaningful The DRD sets the standard for participation as Active, Free & Meaningful participation, which moves beyond providing information and consultation to empowered participatory governance and opportunities for citizens to freely influence decision making. This calls for connection across formal and informal spaces of participation, which requires: An open, inclusive and responsive overnment Strong civil society Engaged citizenry

Using Q1, Q2, formats allows the chat to be followed more easily and is easier to understand in the archive, especially when people respond using the same. Start with a general topic question and ask additional questions every ten to 15 minutes.e.g. Q1: How do you use tech in your classroom?e.g. Q2: What are the pros and cons of using tech?It might be a good idea to tweet a link to the Google Doc with your questions prior to the chat. After a welcome and a prompt for participants to introduce themselves, be sure to allow 5 minutes for introductions, but post soon thereafter. Dont get too bogged down in the introductions that you keep people waiting for the 1st question.For crowdsourcing topics, consider beginning by asking for guiding questions or learning objectives for the topic. Think of different questions to keep the content ideas going.

6Creating an open, inclusive and Responsive Government: FindingsWhile citizens seized the opportunity presented by the Constitution.However space for meaningful public participation is shrinking, by attempts to control and weaken mediating organisations through restrictive laws and amendments. At the county level, the space for meaningful public participation is being reduced to tokenistic participation in county consultative processes;Citizens challenge through petitions, court processes, protests (disruptive rather than constructive) or conform through patron client relations.

Creating a strong civil society: FindingsCivil societys capacity to effectively confront and challenge attempts to reduce the democratic space is weakened by internal divisions and external political and social factors that pose a challenge in advancing a collective agenda, sustaining action and broad-based coalition-building among different types of civil society organizations;Media representation of issues raised and campaign agenda, often influenced public opinion negatively.Missed opportunities to organize collectively, and mobilise more broadly.

Make sure you keep the focus of the conversation on topic by retweeting and following up on key comments. Often people will go off on tangents. That is to be expected and is part of the democratic nature of Twitter. However as moderator maintain the focus on the advertised chat topic. -Retweet excellent contributions and resources.-Ask for clarification questions if neededThis is very rare, but it is important that if negative or inappropriate comments occur they should be dealt with immediately.

Please say something like @___________ twitter etiquette dictates negative comments and conversations move to a different medium. We welcome differing points of view but want to keep it positive and productive in our forum!

8Creating an engaged citizenry: FindingsOrganized citizen groups, while effective in addressing the welfare needs of the community, remain low in translating the welfare agenda into influence broader political and democratization processes. Due to increased loss of public trust, citizens are continually seeking private solutions to public problems through associations or affiliation-based privileges rather than public-extensive rights.

Lessons and Recommendations: GovernmentEstablishment of laws and clear mechanisms for public participation, at all county and national levels, by both County Assemblies and Parliament; Need for an urgent shift in formal spaces, for leaders to embrace the goodwill of citizens, listen, understand and create room for genuine and meaningful participation of citizens in governance.

Lessons and Recommendations: Civil SocietyIncreased alliance and coalition building civil society; both conventional (NGOs), and non conventional (associations, unions, citizen groups) media, political elements, and elected representatives advancing the democratic agenda.This is necessary to strengthen the capacity of citizens and civil society to demand for the minimum conditions for the rule of law and constitutionalism to flourishBeyond awareness on the Constitution, there is need to catalyse welfare agenda to broader political, democratization and policy processes.

Lessons and Recommendations : Citizens Citizens have a responsibility to exercise integrity in electing leaders who are not only determined to create spaces for participation, but are also equally determined to ensure that spaces for participation work effectively. This requires new social and political relationships based on entitlement to public-extensive rights to replace patron-client kind of alliances.Citizens need to recognize their informal spaces as spaces for identifying, nurturing and supporting members to take up leadership positions to represent and defend their interests.

ConclusionThe Constitutional promise of public participation is yet to be realised Despite increased options for direct and indirect self-representation, and channels for citizens to engage with Government, the political culture has not changed. It is still characterised by ethnic or sectarian mobilisation, patronage and abuse of power and state resources. If we continue at this rate, the promise of participation will be still born. How can we accelerate the establishment of laws/guidelines/policies for public participation at national and county levels?How can we strengthen the capacity of citizens to recognise themselves as citizens rather than beneficiaries or clients? How can we create a recognition by all actors; citizens, civil society and Government that a key component of democracy is building trust among and between different parts of society?

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