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Residents slam county for late public views, fear input may be ignored

Finance executive, however, dismissed their claims, saying no project has been predetermined.

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by EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

Counties17 January 2023 - 18:00
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In Summary


  • • Say the move by the county government to seek views from the public at the tail end of the CIDP preparation process was a ploy to leave out their inputs.
  • • Nelson Maina, a budget facilitator, said the process has 40 steps and the public should have been engaged in the eighth step only to be brought onboard in step 32.
Michael Ndegwa airs his views during the Pre-CIDP Conference held at Whispers Park Social Hall in Nyeri town Monday

Nyeri residents and members of the civil society are worried their views may not be factored in county plans due to late public participation sessions.

Nyeri is in the process of formulating the County Integrated Development Plan and last week conducted public participation.

But the residents on Monday said the views from the public were sought at the tail end of the CIDP preparation, and that it could have been a ploy to leave out their input.

Nelson Maina, a budget facilitator, said the process has 40 steps and the public should have been engaged in the eighth step only to be brought on board in step 32.

Residents are expected to air their views at subcounty level this Wednesday as the county enters the final stages of the document preparation.

Maina, however, said they were exploring possibilities of embracing new approach of having their inputs considered.

He spoke during a pre-CIDP Conference at Whispers Park Social Hall in Nyeri town to draft proposals for the next five years.

The essence of the conference was to help citizens to package their views in preparation for the public participation forums this week.

The team resolved to prepare and present one document to give them better say as opposed to doing it individually.

Maina said it has been a trend where members of the public are given a draft during public participation, give their views but nothing is changed in the final document.

“The question we ask ourselves is, what is the purpose of public participation if at the end of the day I will have spent my time, resources and energy to prepare a memorandum that in the end is not implemented?” he posed.

Michael Ndegwa, Nyeri County Budget Coalition chairman, said the public has been reduced to attending public participation forums and giving views that are not factored.

He doubted their views will be taken into consideration, given they are being engaged when the process is nearing completion.

“Chances are our views might not be taken unless we do it differently. We are time barred,” he said.

He said they will need to take a different approach to ensure their views reach the ears of the governor and the Finance executive.

Jemima Muthoni of Health Rights Advocacy Forum said the public should have been engaged in September last year.

Though the executive may argue it was an electioneering period and that is why the public participation delayed, she said, other counties were able to do so on time.

Nyeri is among the last county to hold the events, she added.

She feared that engaging the public this late means some people may have already predetermined the projects to be undertaken.

The team plans to petition the Finance executive and the Budget and Appropriation Committee in the county assembly to ensure their view are considered.

The meeting brought together various CSOs under the Nyeri County Budget Coalition, members of the public, persons with disability, traders, cooperative champions, artists, media and farmers, among others.

Finance executive Robert Thuo, however, dismissed their claims, saying no project has been predetermined.

Thuo said public participation is a constitutional right for everyone and all their inputs into the CIDP will be considered.

“Based on their relevance and alignment to Vision 2030, the governor’s manifesto and [Medium Term Expenditure Framework] MTEF they'll be considered. Nobody has shut out any input yet,” he said.

Thuo said the National Treasury department of Planning pushed the timelines for CIDP conclusion from December 2022 to March 2023 and so they were within the timelines.

The county is currently on Chapter 3 of the document and it is at that stage that public participation is slotted, he explained. 

“Kenya has 48 governments with 47 being counties that are run independently. As long as the laws are complied with, you are not bound by what's happening in other counties. The dynamics are totally different,” Thuo said in response to the county lagging behind compared to others.

Edited by Eliud Kibii

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