Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice.
The Government of Kenya, through the Office of the Attorney-General and Department of Justice has developed the Kenya Policy on Public Participation as the Country's overarching framework for public participation. In this Policy, public participation is conceptualized as the process by which citizens, as individuals, groups or communities (also
known as stakeholders), take part in the conduct of public affairs, interact with the state and other non-state actors to influence decisions, policies, programs, legislation and provide oversight in service delivery, development and other matters concerning their governance and public interest, either directly or indirectly through freely chosen representatives.
The objectives of the Policy are to set standards for effective public participation and to establish a framework for the management and co-ordination of public participation in Kenya. The process involved consultations with various stakeholders through Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and regional stakeholder consultations in various regions of Kenya during which views of the public were collected by the National Steering Committee on how best public participation can be provided for. The regional consultations were attended by members of the public, women and youth leaders, Non State Actors, including Community Based Organizations (CBOs), members of various County Assemblies and representatives from the County Commissioners' offices. In 2016, the Attorney-General appointed a National Steering Committee to spearhead the policy formulation process. The committee comprised officers from the Office of the Attorney-General and Department of Justice, Former Ministry of Devolution and Planning, Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee, Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ), National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC), Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC), The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA), UNDP/Amkeni, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), National Civil Society Congress, International Development Law Organization (IDLO), Council of Governors (CoG), Public Service Commission (PSC) and the County Assemblies Forum (CAF).
Download Kenya Policy on Public Participation - Sessional Paper No. 3 of 2023 in PDF (2.5 MB)