- The Auditor General says the counties are not giving residents timely information on the venue and days of the meeting
- Gathungu conducted the audit on public participation for the 2021-22 budgets for 18 counties.
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Many county governments are passing and implementing their budgets without public input of their residents due to ineffective public participation.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has exposed counties governments as the biggest stumbling block to proper and effective public participation.
The devolved units, the auditor said in her first-ever report on public participation, are not conducting civil education on the process.
They are using poor mechanisms of sharing budget documents and, in most cases, the documents are bulky and not easy to comprehend by most of the residents.
The counties, Gathungu said, are not giving their residents timely information on the venue and days of the meeting while others are engaging in ‘biased’ mobilisation of their residents.
“The audit observed that the county governments had not promoted citizen’s participation in the budget making process," the report reads.
“Consequently, the budget prepared for the financial 2021-22 under review may not have reflected the views and priorities of the citizens.”
Gathungu conducted the audit on public participation for the 2021-22 budgets for 18 counties.
They are Nairobi, Kiambu, Kisii, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Kakamega, Bungoma, Elgeyo Marakwet, Isiolo, Meru, Kirinyaga, Nakuru, Garissa Kilifi, Mombasa, Makueni, Turkana and Narok.
“There was low level of actual citizen participation in the budget process due to lack of civil education and failure to use appropriate channels to disseminate information to citizens,” the report reads.
Article 118 of the Constitution requires Parliament, counties and state agencies to conduct public participation with stakeholders and persons likely to be affected by the law, budget or policy.
The report states that out of 2026 sampled respondents, 1,320 were aware of the need to participate in the budget making process.
However, only 345 participated during the budget making process for the financial year 2021-22.
Further, the counties lack feedback mechanism for responding to citizen submissions.
Out of the 345 citizens who participated in the budget making process, only 128 received feedback from the counties with regards to their petitions and challenges.
“The audit noted that counties lacked structured feedback mechanisms to respond to citizens’ petitions and challenges. This is contrary to section 89 of the County Governments Act, 2012," the report reads.
“The 18 audited county governments were not fully compliant with the legal requirements and therefore public participation in the budget making process was not fully effective."
Consequently, the approved county budgets for the financial year 2021-22 may not have incorporated public views and priorities.
In order to improve the efficiency of public participation, the auditor recommended to the counties to fully make operational the county Public Participation Act.
This, she said, will ensure effective public participation in the budget making process.
“Parliament should also fast-track the enactment of the Public Participation Bill, 2019 which stipulates the framework and process of conducting effective public participation,” the report reads.
Gathungu asked the counties to make use of the established legal structures such as sector working groups, county budget and economic forums, NGOs, faith-based organisations, Nyumba Kumi, women and youth groups, as well as persons with disability and resident associations.
The groups, she said, are the benchmarks for ensuring inclusive and objective public participation engagements.
The auditor also asked the counties to decentralise public participation to the village level and conduct public forums at central positions.
“This will increase accessibility and citizens participation in the budget-making process,” Gathungu said.
The counties have also been urged to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to provide civic education in line with sections 100 and 101 of the County Governments Act, 2012.
“The budget documents should be simplified, published and publicised in a timely manner, as stipulated by article 201 (a) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010," she said.
The auditor also asked the counties to subject their supplementary budgets to public participation.
The counties should also be accountable for citizens petitions and challenges by establishing systems of recording and analysing citizen submissions.
(edited by Amol Awuor)