Columnists

Citizens must be engaged in budget process

musyimi

Budget committee chairman Mutava Musyimi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The budget making process involves three major stages which are the pre-budget process, formulation and approval of the budget and post budget process. In the pre-budget phase, the citizen’s views are compiled and integrated in documents such as fiscal strategy and budget review paper.

The citizenry are able to make contributions by attending the county budget committee hearings and through appointments in the county planning units. During the second step which is the formulation and approval of the budget, proposals from the public that include the private business sector contribution can also be collated and submitted to the National Treasury.

During this stage public budget hearings are held around the country by the Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly at the village wards and sub county levels. For the post budget stage, the public is able to hold the government liable to implement the budget by playing an oversight role through social audits and citizen score cards. The legal framework governing citizen participation in the budget making process is contained in the Kenya Constitution 2010, the Public Finance Management Act, the County Government Act and Urban Areas and Cities Act 2012.

While it is envisaged that the citizen plays a crucial role in the budget making process, the questions that need to be answered are whether the mwanachi actually contributes in the process and whether they know the channels through which they can provide their input during the budget making process.

To improve citizen’s participation, civic education ought to be conducted at the grassroots through county civic education programmes to enlighten citizens on the contribution they can make during the process. Building effective public participation frameworks is therefore key.