ROLE OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN ENHANCING GOVERNANCE PROCESS IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF NAIROBI CITY COUNTY

Orwochi Anthony Moturi

Master of Public Policy and Administration

Kenyatta University

David Minja

Department of Public Policy and Administration

Kenyatta University

CITATION: Moturi, O. A. & Minja, D. Role of Public Participation in Enhancing Governance Process in Kenya: A Case Study of Nairobi City County. International Journal of Arts and Entrepreneurship. Vol. 11 (4) pp 1 – 21.

ABSTRACT

Public Participation is the fulcrum of democratic governance as stipulated in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 with regard to governance. This study is conceptualized to investigate the role of public participation in enhancing county governance processes in Nairobi City County. The study was premised on four specific objectives: establishing the level of public participation in the governance processes; examining the awareness of the public on existing legal framework for public participation in the governance processes; evaluating the influence of public participation methods on the governance processes; and identifying the barriers to public participation in governance processes in Nairobi City County. The study was guided by two theories – Participatory and Stakeholder – as the main theoretical underpinning to be used to connect the study variables. The study employed a descriptive survey design as the research methodology, and purposive and stratified sampling to select 93 respondents from a population of 848602 participants comprising of senior county officials, county assembly members, ward administrators, and county residents. The study instruments used were questionnaires and key informants interview schedule. The study found that the level of public participation enables the public to have various platforms to ventilate, canvass, and build consensus on governance issues; awareness of existing legal framework by the public is critical in helping the citizen understand how and when they should participate in key issues of governance; methods of public participation designed by the county government management and other relevant partners affect governance processes; and respondents had the knowledge of how critical barriers to public participation was to enabling the citizens contribute to issues of county governance thereby affecting governance processes. The study recommended the need for County government to ensure provision of proper awareness and sensitization of the public on existing legal framework, meticulous application of public participation methods; and minimizing the structural and procedural barriers so as to enhance collaborative efforts in realizing effective and efficient county governance. The study also suggested that further research is needed on the effect of the level of education on the efficacy of public participation in county governance, as well as examining the interface between perceptual barriers and the effectiveness of county governance.

Key Words: Public Participation, Legal Frameworks and Governance Process

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