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May-June-issue

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Governance<br />

By Kevin Sukwe<br />

CORPORATE<br />

GOVERNANCE<br />

IN KENYA<br />

Exploring models of enhancing public<br />

participation in county governments<br />

One of the main pillars of<br />

economic development<br />

of any entity whether<br />

private or public is effective<br />

corporate governance<br />

(CG). Though emphasis of corporate<br />

governance has for a long time been<br />

on the private sector, changes in public<br />

sector governance has called for increased<br />

demand in accountability. The Cadbury<br />

Report (1992) defined CG as the system<br />

by which companies / organisations are<br />

managed and controlled and is anchored<br />

on principles of openness, integrity and<br />

accountability. By integrating varied<br />

definitions, Matei and Drumasu (2015),<br />

sum corporate governance as “the way in<br />

which an organization (public or private)<br />

is led and controlled, with the purpose of<br />

getting performance / accomplishing its<br />

responsibilities successfully and bringing<br />

added value, as well as using financial,<br />

human, material and informational<br />

resources efficiently, while respecting<br />

the rights and obligations of all involved<br />

parties (shareholders / investors,<br />

Administration Board, managers,<br />

employees, state, suppliers, clients and<br />

other people with a direct interest.”<br />

The emphasis of openness, integrity<br />

and accountability gained prominence<br />

in Kenya with the enactment of the<br />

new Constitution of Kenya of 2010<br />

that established devolved units of<br />

governance. As is the case with many<br />

other democracies in the world, we were<br />

confronted with one inevitable primary<br />

question: How do we distribute financial<br />

resources and then how do we encourage<br />

constructive public participation in<br />

distribution of such resources the county<br />

level? Governments require public input<br />

especially in employment of resources in<br />

deserving areas, equitable distribution of<br />

services and proper accounting for taxes<br />

and fees collected.<br />

Public participation has been defined<br />

by International Association of Public<br />

Participation (IAP2) as any process that<br />

involves the public in problem solving or<br />

decision making and uses public input<br />

to make decisions. In public affairs, it is<br />

an open, accountable process through<br />

which individuals and groups within a<br />

community exchange views and influence<br />

decision making. Ministry of Devolution<br />

and Planning (MODP) guidelines<br />

(2016), define public participation as the<br />

process where individuals, governmental<br />

and non-governmental groups influence<br />

decision making in policy, legislation<br />

and service delivery, oversight and<br />

development matters. In addition<br />

to communicating information in a<br />

transparent and timely manner, the duty<br />

bearer (county governments) engages<br />

the public in decision making. Public<br />

participation is therefore a process that<br />

requires the input of the stakeholders.<br />

Public participation in public sector<br />

is anchored on legal framework that<br />

includes the Constitution of Kenya,<br />

34 MAY - JUNE 2018

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