Columnists

Always include citizens in policy plans

water

County governments must use the next five years in addressing the real and basic needs of citizens. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Many Kenyans I have interacted with are looking forward to a great year ahead. They are determined to play their part in building the nation and bettering their lives. This requires a conducive environment.

Government at both the national and county level must do their part in improving the conditions under which citizens operate. This way, they can put their energies and skills into different activities with a view to developing Kenya.

The Constitution recognised that in the discharge of its mandate, formulation and implementation of policies, citizens require to be consulted and their views incorporated.

This sounds such a simple and basic fact that to see it is not uniformly practised makes you wonder what informs our approach to governance.

Last week, it was reported that a multi-billion shilling irrigation project faced the risk of turning into a white elephant project not because of lack of finance to complete it but inability of residents to appreciate its importance and take advantage of it.

At first read one would criticise the local community members for being ignorant and not appreciating the benefits that proper use of the irrigation project would bring to their lives, livelihoods and communities. Through it they would be able to avoid the vagaries of weather and assure themselves of food security.

However, one should ask themselves the fundamental question relating to the conceptualization and implementation of the project. How were the citizens involved in these stages? Was an irrigation project their idea and need? Or was it imposed on them? As it was being rolled out, were they involved at all? What awareness sessions were held with them to sensitise them on the project?

Secondly, where do they expect the community to get water for satisfying their cleanliness needs?

To avoid such, policy makers must embrace the concept of participatory planning. We should not just make public pronouncements celebrating the importance of public participation and expressing our commitment to its application in all public processes. We have to make public participation a way of life. We have to avoid the assumption that public participation is expensive or time consuming.

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If one assesses the cost of the irrigation project and compares that cost against the amounts that would have been spent in exhaustive sensitization and engagement with the community, one will see that costs of consulting communities is much less than the cost of abandoned projects.

The story also demonstrates the state of access to basic services in some parts of the country. For this community, access to water for domestic use, including bathing is still a challenge.

The Ministry of Water must prioritise water provision to rural areas. County governments must use the next five years in addressing the real and basic needs of citizens.

Five years since devolution was introduced, the differences in the state and pace of progress being made by county governments is a stark demonstration of those that have prioritised the needs of the people who put them into office and those that are either unconcerned or unsure of what their citizens really need.

Such leaders spend their public engagement telling their citizens what they have done or plan to do, but rarely worry whether they are actually communicating to the people or if the people see those plans as responding to their true needs.

Sustainable progress can only be realised when you carry the people along. That way they will appreciate the development plans being rolled out and avoid the unfortunate situation where a water project to ensure that communities are able to engage in agriculture through reliance on irrigation as opposed to rain-water is not embraced by the community.

The solution lies in acknowledging that communities actually know about the challenges they face. They are looking for leadership that will work with them to solve these problems.