APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA put forward its own view on how the shortcomings can be rectified. These responses are appended to the country report. At this stage, the country finalises its NPOA, taking into account the conclusions and recommendations of the draft report. 12. Stage Four begins when the APRM Lead Panel Member who led the country review process submits the final report together with final NPOA to the APR Panel. Upon its approval, the Country Review Report is then submitted to the APR Forum for consideration and formulation of actions deemed necessary in accordance with the Forum’s mandate. 13. Stage Five entails formal publication and presentation of the CRR to national stakeholders and key African Union regional bodies, such as the Regional Economic Community to which the country belongs, the Pan-African Parliament, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, etc. Box 1: Status of APRM implementation as of 2016 The APRM is clearly the most innovative instrument for entrenching democracy and good governance in Africa. It is unprecedented in the history of governance in Africa. The key principle of the APRM process is to propel the citizen at the centre of public policy and governance practice in Africa by ensuring broad-based participation of all stakeholders in the review process. In so doing, it heightens public awareness of governance and development processes, and builds a national dialogue and consensus around critical governance issues. The National Programme of Action (NPoA) that comes out of the review process provides an implementation framework for the state and stakeholders to address governance challenges and meet developmental goals. It is equally a monitoring tool for countries to track progress National ownership and leadership by the participating countries are essential to the effectiveness of the APRM process. This includes leadership in ensuring consistency and alignment with existing national processes. In Kenya it is critical that APRM NPoA be aligned with Vision 2030, the global Sustainable Development Goals, Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), and County Integrated Development Plans at county level. To date, 35 AU Member States have voluntarily joined the APRM. These are Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. Seventeen have completed the first review process and have been peer reviewed by the APR Forum. Others are at various stages of the review process. Kenya is the first APRM Member State to pioneer the second review process after its base review in 2006. | 57 |