APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA 2.8 The bottom-up planning that the 2010 Constitution provides has improved public participation in the development and implementation of government policies and programmes. Nevertheless, compared to expectations, stakeholders’ involvement in planning and implementation still remains very low. Various reasons are responsible for the low public participation. Among them are distance and the high burden of transportation cost, inadequate understanding of the policies and programmes of the government, and poor publicity. Others cover such issues as poor communication, where, in some instances, documents or materials which form the basis of discussions at the public forums are only circulated at the venue of the meetings without prior notice. The low participation in economic decision budget process and planning is a serious impediment to communities to fully own the programmes and projects executed. 2.9 The Panel recommends that in order to have the public participating effectively in the design and implementation of development plans, Kenya needs to increase civic education to promote the public’s awareness of their rights to participate in such programmes. The country also needs to develop and mainstream effective tools of communicating with the public and invest in the use of various media to do so. Moreover, it is necessary to translate technical documents in reader friendly languages, especially in languages widely spoken by the local population. 2.10 Significant developments have occurred in the public finance management domain. In 2004, the Government commenced the use of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the annual budget is linked to it. This suggests the acceptance of fiscal planning and it has been sustained. The government has enacted laws with respect to financial management in line with the procedures and timelines prescribed in the constitution. An over-arching legislation is the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012 stressing transparency and accountability in the use of public resources for efficient service delivery. The Constitution and the PFM Act 2012 have transferred important oversight fiscal functions from the executive and National Treasury to parliament, both at the national and county government levels. In 2009, the Parliamentary Budget Office was established to provide strong technical support for legislators to properly scrutinize the budget at the different stages. 2.11 The Public Expenditure Financial Accountability (PEFA) evaluation technique was used to determine the extent of financial management. The budget of the national government shows some degree of comprehensiveness, making it possible for the parliament and the public to examine the budget proposals. Legislative scrutiny of the budget and expenditure tracking has improved. However, the payroll system and the procurement process are hardly described in details to enable adequate assessment of the strengths and weaknesses. A huge wage bill is inclined to weaken financial control and corruption. Effective management of payroll will, to a large extent, put government expenditure under effective check. When the procurement system works well, there is value for money, implying that services are delivered efficiently. Openness, competitive bidding and transparency in the award of contracts are basic requirements of a good PFM. Procurement accounts for 46% of all corrupt cases in Kenya. The Panel recommends that the procurement mechanisms of the national and county governments need to be comprehensively evaluated to inform policy decision. | 35 |