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Members of Muguga Food Security have received training on armyworm control from agricultural extension officers stationed at Nakuru Town East sub-county office. The group requested training from the county agricultural office following an infestation of their farms located in Lanet Umoja Ward by the pest.

The training, which was delivered by a team of 3 agricultural extension officers, took place on 21^st June 2017 on a farm owned by one of the members. It featured live demonstrations of infested crops and the spraying procedures.

The group was educated on the characteristics of foul armyworms and why it is very dangerous compared to other pests, early signs of infestation, prevention measures, ideal pesticides, and how the pesticides should be applied to crops. 

A practical spraying demonstration was conducted on one of the group member’s farms.  Through the practical session, members learned how to mix and spray pesticides. After the live demonstration, the extension officers distributed 2 liters of the pesticide to group members for use on their farms.

Members of this group were able to take this action after realizing that they could request services from duty bearers during a session on tools for citizen participation during sustained civic education sessions delivered by one of CTL’s civic educators.

When citizens prioritize projects that they want their county government to undertake in their communities, they expect those projects to be implemented and operationalized within a reasonable time so they can access the services they need. However, this is not always the case. On some occasions, public projects are not implemented as envisaged by citizens, denying them services for extended periods of time.

Such was the case for residents of Njokerio Village, in Njoro Sub-County. After attending budget forums and prioritizing the construction of Njokerio Health Center in 2018, the community felt short-changed after the County Government took over 4 years to complete and fully operationalize the facility. This long delay meant that residents had to travel over 5 kilometers away to access health services.

‘’We do not have a health facility in our area that citizens can turn to for curative services. The nearest health facility is the Njoro Sub County hospital which is about 7km away. Whenever we fall ill, we incur transport costs and have to spend a whole day at the hospital due to long queues.  This means losing a day’s revenue if you are a business person,” notes Anges Kinyanjui, Njokerio resident

Such disappointments leave citizens feeling helpless. The best they do is complain amongst themselves. These negative experiences also breed apathy towards governance processes among citizens.

But this situation is slowly changing in Njoro Sub-County.

In July 2021, 12 civic educators from different parts of Nakuru County received training on Economic, Social, and Cultural (ECOSOC) rights as provided for by the Constitution of Kenya. The training empowered them with skills and knowledge to enable them to sensitize local community groups about ECOSOC rights and how they can engage county governments to realize those rights as part of the URAIA`s programme of Strengthening Public Accountability and Responsiveness in Kenya (SPARKe) funded by Denmark Development Corporation (DANIDA).

With CTL’s support, the civic educators conducted civic education sessions in community groups. During these sessions, they empowered citizens with knowledge of practical citizen participation tools that they can use to engage duty bearers and get them to solve their issues. Njokerio residents identified the health facility they had prioritized as an issue and decided to seek information on why it was not functional from the Njoro Ward administrator through a letter.

“I received a letter from Njokerio residents raising concerns about the health facility. This issue had not been raised before and we responded immediately to assure residents that the matter will be sorted as soon as possible. We worked with the Department of Health and within three weeks we had equipped the facility and dispatched a nurse to allow residents to seek health services from the facility,” notes Elizabeth Koigi, Njoro ward administrator.

The civic education sessions in Nakuru County were part of the activities conducted by the Center for Transformational Leadership (CTL) under the  URAIA-funded Encouraging Citizen-driven Accountability through Sustained Engagement (ENCASE) project.

Molo River is the main source of water for many households in Rongai and Molo Sub-Counties.  Any changes to its water quality have a significant impact on communities that rely on it and their livestock. But, despite the importance this river has in the local community, its water quality has been deteriorating.

In the months leading to the end of 2022, the river water started to change color. Within a few days,  maggots were visible in the river, raising concerns about the safety of the water.

“We were curious to know the cause of pollution in the river. After some investigation, we noticed that the Daima milk factory in Molo was discharging waste to the river,” notes Stanley Chepkwony, a resident of Baraka in Mosop ward, Rongai Sub County.

But, even with clarity of the problem, residents of Baraka didn’t know what steps to take to address the issue nor which government office to report the matter too. The situation changed when a CTL civic educator targeted the group with civic education. 

In July 2021, CTL trained 12 civic educators from various regions in Nakuru County on Economic, Social, and Cultural (ECOSOC) rights and the importance of public participation as part of the URAIA`s programme of Strengthening Public Accountability and Responsiveness in Kenya (SPARKe), which is funded by Denmark Development Corporation (DANIDA).

During the civic education session, members of the Baraka community learned about the right to clean and adequate water and identified water pollution in the Molo river as an issue they would like to address. With the help of the civic educator, they identified the civic participation tool to use and mapped out the target duty bearer.

“The group was very passionate about addressing the water quality problem. After mapping the duty bearers, the Public Health Officer in Rongai Sub-County Hospital appeared to be the most strategic choice because the pollution appeared to fall into his docket. The group decided to write a letter to him raising the pollution complaint,” CTL Civic Educator Ann Nyige said.

On 31st October 2022,  the group wrote a letter to the Public Health Officers in Rongai and Molo Sub-county Hospital seeking quick intervention in the matter. Upon receiving the complaint letter, the PHO from Molo Sub-county visited the factory to raise the community’s concerns with the management and demanded that it treat liquid waste.

“I was made aware of the water pollution issue in Molo river through a letter sent by Baraka Community. Since the factory is located in Molo Sub-County, we made arrangements to visit it with Molo Sub-County Public Health Officers. We assessed the situation in the factory and made appropriate water treatment recommendations,” notes Mr. Panyako, Molo Sub County PHO

The factory acted on these demands and improved its treatment of wastewater. Subsequently, the PHOs facilitated a water quality test after the company started treating wastewater and verified that the quality of the water had improved. 

The civic education sessions in Nakuru County are part of the activities conducted by the Center for Transformational Leadership (CTL) under the  Encouraging Citizen-driven Accountability through Sustained Engagement (ENCASE) project.

Public participation gives citizens the opportunity to influence decision-making when it comes to governance processes at the county level. It is a two-way process because the government provides the opportunity for citizens to get involved and citizens choose whether to utilize that opportunity or not. In Kenya, public participation in governance is well articulated in the constitution and in other supporting legislations. 

Article 10 of the Constitution highlights public participation as a principle and value of good governance. Further, in Article 201(a), the constitution highlights public participation as among the principles that guide public finance in addition to openness and accountability in financial matters. Sections 30 and 32 of the County Government Act task governors with the responsibility of promoting and facilitating citizen participation in the development of county policies and plans as well as service delivery. Governors are also expected to submit annual reports to county assemblies highlighting how citizens participate in public affairs within the county. Public participation offers numerous benefits to citizens and the country at large. These benefits include: 

1. Opportunity for citizens to inform county priorities

Involving citizens in decision-making processes at the county level results ensures that they have a chance to decide what the county should prioritize. This leads to planning that responds to citizen needs because county governments are able to focus resources on the issues that matter most to citizens. For the public, this means better access to quality services, better governance, and development.

2. Public participation reduces corruption

When citizens participate in governance processes, they are able to monitor how public resources are utilized and hold public officers to account for the delivery of services. By doing so, citizens would ensure rational utilization of public resources and provide a safeguard against wastage and leakage of funds due to corruption.

3. Public participation empowers marginalized groups  

Through public participation, marginalized groups such as the poor in the community and those that are underrepresented in political spheres like the youth, women, and children get empowered. Forums for public participation forums provide excellent platforms that introduce mechanisms for amplifying the voice of citizens on matters that affect them most. Consequently, this can help reduce poverty and lead to sustainable development.

4. Increase government revenue

For the government, public participation is critical in boosting revenue collection. By helping citizens get a better understanding of the budgeting process, county governments help citizens understand the financial limitations and challenges the government faces. As such, citizens may start appreciating the importance of paying taxes, charges, fees, and levies and this could boost government revenue.

The County Fiscal Strategy Paper (CFSP) is a document that is prepared every year to guide the county budget making process. The purpose of developing the CFSP is to dissect the past and present situation of the budget process with a view of informing the county budget for the next financial year. The CFSP provides strategic priorities and policy goals that a county government follows in preparing the budget for the coming financial year and over the medium term, 3-5 years. 

Who Prepares the CFSP? 

The CFSP is prepared by the County Treasury and submitted to the County Executive Committee (CEC) in charge of Finance and Economic Planning. Upon review, the CEC submits the CFSP to the County Assembly by 28th February each year. The County Assembly is required to make the CFSP public 7 days after the submission, for public input and approve it by 14th March. Upon approval, the CFSP can then be used by the County Treasury to prepare budget estimates.

What are the Components of a CFSP?

The CFSP has 4 key components namely  performance, projections, priorities and ceilings. Studying the CFSP entails scrutinizing each of these components. 

In most cases information relating to performance, projections, and ceilings is provided in table format because it contains figures. On the other hand, priorities are often presented in narrative form because they explain choices made in the sector ceilings as explained below:

1. Performance

This section provides up-to-date information on expenditure incurred and revenue collected by a county government. It helps to determine whether decisions made going forward on revenue collection and expenditure are realistic. Performance is usually presented per sector based on the previous financial year and the recent budget implementation reports produced during the 2nd quarter of the current financial year.

2. Projections

These constitute a key aspect of the CFSP and give an indication of the overall revenue and expenditure expected in the next financial year.  The CFSP indicates expected deficit, how much revenue a county government expects to receive from the national government and how much it expects to raise from local sources. 

It also indicates amounts a county expects to receive in form of donor funding, grants, and internal or external borrowing in the next financial year. In terms of projected expenditure, the CFSP indicated costs relating to recurrent expenditure, capital or development expenditure, debt repayment among others. The figures used in projecting revenue and expenditure ought to be as reasonable as possible.

3. Priorities

This section of the CFSP shows the priority needs identified for financing by a county government. Often, this section explains choices made in the next financial year for the various sectors and shows how funds will be distributed to meet priority needs across sectors. CFSP priorities are informed by decisions made during sector hearings where citizens participate. 

4. Budget Ceilings

These represent budget limits per sector. Budget ceilings determine the amount of money allocated to each sector and show how funds are distributed across different sectors. Ideally, budget ceilings should show the specific amounts a county will spend in meeting the identified priorities. In this section of the CFSP you will find sector allocations that enable you to identify areas or sectors with the highest as well as lowest allocations.