“Citizens and county governments can work together as partners in order to provide home-grown solutions to local county budgeting issues.” — Fahamu Africa
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Counties established in Kenya
July 2016 End date
August 2017
Issue
Devolved governance systems in recently created counties in Kenya have led to ineffective, inefficient and unequal local resource distribution.
A participatory budgeting model has been implemented in some Kenyan counties to create a more cohesive approach to local decision making.
Participatory budgeting offers citizens a collective voice in determining local development priorities, and advocating for the inclusion of these priorities in their county budgets.
Project
Fahamu has already implemented participatory budgeting in four counties in Kenya. This project will enable the scaling up of the participatory budgeting to another county, Embu.
The project in Embu County will:
- Promote increased informed participation by citizens in setting development budgeting priorities, working alongside the county government
- Increase the inclusion of marginalised sections of society in selecting development priorities within the county, including addressing gender inequalities
- Specifically promote and innovate the use of technology in order to reach citizens currently left out of participating in county-level decisions. This will include using mobile phone applications and community radio to create accessible platforms for engagement.
- Demonstrate the application of citizen participation in diverse county situations.
Partner
Fahamu is a Pan-African organisation established in 1997 to nurture and strengthen movements for social justice. Fahamu has expertise in working with grassroots organisations on issues of citizen participation, natural resource governance, family farming and advocacy campaigns to demand accountability from leaders.