Underit Youth Group (UYG) in Nandi County has improvised a formal way of public participation in governance issues which involves identifying priority projects in the locality, listing them, and then presenting them to area leaders to ensure they are considered and captured in the County Integrated and Development Plan.
The group, which has been undertaking a programme known as Electoral Conflict Mitigation and Civic Voter Education Support (ECCES) that is sponsored by USAID and Act!, seeks to shed light on issues of governance to residents and how they can take part in governance to ensure development takes place at the grassroots.
Speaking during the presentation of the formal document to Kapsimotwa Ward residents to their Member of County Assembly (MCA), Edwin Korir, in a meeting held at Nandi Hills, UYG project coordinator Jacob Sanga noted that the formal document acts as a master plan for the MCAs as it helps to capture priority projects in the Annual Development Plan (ADP) for every financial year.
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anga noted that a greater percentage of residents do not take part in public participation, adding that with formal participation, it is easier for more people to participate and therefore easier to determine projects in the order of priority, which will in turn guide MCAs when selecting the County’s annual development priorities in each forthcoming year.
He pointed out that formal public participation gives a balanced understanding of the community’s views and enhances the value of the final decision because most people take part.
‘As UYG, we have been doing civic education on good governance, and we realised there is a gap in public participation. To bridge the gap, we give residents at the grassroots an opportunity to develop a formal document by listing their wishes,’ said the coordinator, adding that the formal public participation document is a combination of the views of people at the grassroots, which helps list projects in terms of priority.
He further divulged that people take part in formal part
icipation as compared to physical participation, which most people rarely attend.
Francis Ng’eny, UYG project officer, disclosed that the group aims at enhancing the participation of people on governance issues at the community level, noting that it is the community that understands better what they need most, thus being able to list their wishes as per their priority to guide the ward leaders when making development decisions.
He observed that when leaders understand the community perspective, they can frame their initiatives to align with the community’s top priorities.
Ng’eny said that the formal document will also help in cross-checking in the ADP to track projects that have been implemented and those that are yet to be done.
‘With this formal document, the ward leaders are guided on what the residents need most and therefore ensure such projects are financed in the order of their importance. This will make development a reality, ‘pointed Ng’eny.
Addressing the forum, chief Philip Chumo commended UYG
for their role in shedding light on governance and the importance of public participation.
Chumo affirmed that the youth group had changed the mindset of the community towards public participation, adding that with the formal document, it was more convenient for more people to take part.
‘Most people do not take part in public participation because of lack of information on the importance of participation. We have learnt much about governance matters from UYG. With this, more developmental projects are likely to be implemented,’ explained Chumo.
Source: Kenya News Agency