- “We are keen to address gaps that have been fingered and reduce the recurrent questionable issues of accountability,” Kavindu said.
- “If you get information, you will be in a position to question when things are not done properly,” she said.
Image: MUSEMBI NZENGU
Some Kitui youth are determined to write simplified versions of the auditor general's reports for residents.
Team leader Josephine Kavindu of Kitui-based Mulika Youth Group said the simplified reports will be easy to understand because they will be brief and devoid of jargon.
“They will be summarised to community consumable documents in simplified English that can be understood by all and sundry. It will thus be compact and not time consuming as Kenyans are not good readers,” she said.
Kavindu made a presentation during the launch of Ideathon Project at a Kitui hotel on Wednesday.
The occasion was graced by Sylvia Mwakio of the International Republican Institute, who are funding the youth Ideathon Project.
Kavindu said for a start her group will work on the 2019-20 and 2020-21 Kitui government audit reports.
“We want people to have the right information on how their resources are utilised. They need to know where gaps existed and was the relevant department called to account,” she said.
The leader said her group wants people to understand the audit reports and internalise them because information is power.
“If you get information, you will be in a position to question when things are not done properly,” she said.
Kavindu said in order to push for action in areas where according to the audit reports things were recurrently not done right, her group will work in partnership with the EACC and DCI as key stakeholders.
“We are keen to address gaps that have been fingered and reduce the recurrent questionable issues of accountability,” she said.
The leader said youth are being roped in because they are full of energy and eager to push the programme forward.
She said simplified version of the reports will be printed and distributed to Kitui residents adding that public awareness forums of the same would also be carried out.
Kavindu said their project will be piloted in Kitui Central, Kitui West, Mwingi West and Mwingi Central subcounties.
Mwakio said her organisation supports the project because in the 2018 EACC corruption perception survey, Kitui county ranked among the top ten.
She said the ultimate idea is to loop in the youth in demanding accountability and transparency on the use of public resources through lobbying and advocacy.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)