For 15 years, if you wanted to stop a government decision, a road through your land, a budget passed without your say, or a licence issued without warning, there was one route: run to court and argue that “public participation” had not happened.
Indeed, the phrase “public participation” is one of the most frequently cited in Kenyan constitutional litigation, yet one of the least defined.
The principle has been recognised in the Constitution since 2010. It appears in Article 10 and in provisions on budgets, legislation and county government. However, it never spelled out what public participation actually requires. How long should it take? Who should organise it? What counts as meaningful participation?
The Public Participation Bill, 2025, passed by the National Assembly on August 12 and now awaiting presidential assent, is Parliament’s first real attempt to set clear rules around public participation.
“We have lost quite a lot as a country since 2010. Parliament has never enacted a law since the Constitution was enacted. Therefore, there was arbitrary abuse of the issues of public participation. Any small thing, if you disagree with anything, people will just rush to court to get orders to stop anything on the basis of public participation.”
What actually changes
The Bill gives public participation a clearer structure. It specifies who is responsible for organising participation exercises in every arm of government: the Clerk of the relevant House for Parliament, the Chief Registrar for the Judiciary, Principal Secretaries for State departments and governors for county executives.
The public must be given a reasonable chance to respond, while the scope of an exercise should match the significance of the decision. Public money used for participation must also be spent carefully.
The Bill explicitly discourages paying members of the public to attend consultations.
JLAC said: “Similar to participation in elections, public participation is a civic responsibility which helps sustain and expand our democracy. Therefore, any form of financial facilitation for attendance of members of the public is discouraged because it may undermine genuine participation, result in skewed outcomes and create inequality.”
The Bill now awaits presidential assent, with various institutions expected to issue regulations to give effect to the framework.
JLAC chairperson Gitonga Murugara said: “To avoid over-legislation, we as a House have given the mandate on public participation to the various government institutions; and it is now up to them to study this Bill once it is assented to and to come up with the specific regulations as guided.”
Email your news TIPS to Editor@nairobilawmonthly.com, and to advertise with us, call +254715061658 anytime of the day
