1. 153
13
Local champions:
towards transparent,
accountable governance
in Embakasi, Kenya
by EDWINE OCHIENG and CYNTHIA OCHOLA ANYANGO
Introduction and consequently their fundamental
Effective community participation can human freedom.
contribute to generating practical ideas and This article is about a counter example.
developing these ideas into high quality Embakasi is a district in Kenya with a
sustainable action plans. Resisting social population of 619,390 (KNBS, 2009). It
injustice is easier when you have strength was one of the districts severely hurt by the
in numbers, the right information and post election violence of 2008. Youths were
appropriate tools for engagement. involved in crimes such as rape, killings
In Kenya, the limited progress in gover- and property destruction in the slum areas.
nance and development is related to Embakasi is characterised by low levels of
citizen’s minimal participation in shaping political awareness, apathy, high unem-
them. Our political arena is not responsive ployment rates, poor sanitation, numerous
to the needs of the majority, who include informal settlements and high prevalence
the youth, women, children and margin- rates of HIV/ AIDS. The district is home to
alised groups, such as persons with many illegal gangs which extort money
disabilities and those living with from the transport industry and create
HIV/AIDS. Strong civic activism among havoc when confronted by the police. Since
them is rare, capacity for engagement is many youths are jobless, they are attracted
low and awareness of ongoing governance into these gangs by the prospect of quick
agendas is scant. Even given strong public- money.
ity about current affairs, they may be In November 2009, a governance
unable to participate in governance if deci- programme was introduced by Plan Kenya.
sion-making processes are closed to them. This article illustrates how this responded
Young citizens particularly, emergent and to the governance and exclusion problems
vibrant as they seem, engage little with outlined above. The article is co-authored
State organs. This limits their voice, choice by Edwine Ochieng, a government official

2. 154 64 Edwine Ochieng and Cynthia Ochola Anyango
Photo: Peter Nderitu
from the district office for gender and social
development and Cynthia Ochola, a
member of the Embakasi Youth Organisa-
tion and secretary of Jipange Youth
Organisation.
We will show via the Embakasi experi-
ence that young people’s organisations
engaging in social accountability around
service provision and other governance
issues need to collaborate instead of
competing.1 The capacity of these organi-
sations needs to be promoted and
strengthened, via training in leadership,
governance and monitoring and evalua-
tion. In these ways, coalitions of youth
organisations can be enabled to play a role
in implementing a coordinated response
through a participatory governance
process.
We each wrote different sections from
our distinct viewpoints. We first describe
the establishment of the governance
Edwine Ochieng facilitating during a governance
programme, and go on to discuss in more workshop.
detail aspects of the programme related to
engagement with government, accounta- enable their informed and constructive
bility, networking, social auditing, engagement. My experience as a project
transparency and information and and development consultant was useful in
communication technologies (ICTs). We guiding them to programme their initia-
then reflect on the challenges we have tives in areas of constitution-making and
faced, and draw out lessons from our expe- strategic planning.
rience. CYNTHIA: During our third training
workshop other participants and I decided
The governance programme to form a coalition of youth groups to
provide a platform for engaging in the
Training events governance programme. We came up with
EDWINE: Through the district gender and the name Jipange, a Swahili word mean-
social development office in Embakasi, ing ‘self-plan’. The Jipange Youth
Plan Kenya mobilised a group of 22 (9 Organisation consists of sixteen youth
male and 13 female) young citizens drawn groups involved in various projects within
from registered youth organisations for the community in areas such as reproduc-
training on governance. This was to help tive health, rubbish collection,
the youth develop an understanding of how construction, theatre and HIV/AIDs
to engage with the local administration. My awareness. Many resources have been allo-
role as a government official in the train- cated to institutions and committees at
ing was to help them understand the grassroots level and our concern was
operations, policies and programmes whether they are used for the intended
undertaken by the government, so as to beneficiaries, mainly the vulnerable people
1For a definition of social accountability, see the glossary (this issue).

3. l Local champions: towards transparent, accountable governance in Embakasi, Kenya 155
Box 1: Jipange Youth Organisation and government officials embraced the
youth. Among other things, they openly
Our vision as a coalition youth group: a well-
governed society and an empowered youth provided the information they sought.
participating in decision-making processes. When Jipange participants decided to
identify policy issues affecting young
Our aims: improved development and democratic people in Embakasi, they visited various
outcomes, through the active engagement of government offices to request information
young citizens in policy, planning, resource
mobilisation and programme implementation in on how youth involvement was supported
sectors including youth and governance, in programmes and policy areas such as
reproductive health and life skills, economic environment, health, unemployment, ICTs
empowerment, environmental management and and insecurity. Security issues in Kenya are
information and communication technology (ICTs). considered sensitive by the police.
However, in his willingness to support the
in the community. We identified and efforts by Jipange, the officer commanding
started to engage with governance Kayole police division gave out statistics on
processes, institutions and structures that the rate of crime in Embakasi. He chal-
manage devolved funds in areas such as lenged the youth to be proactive in
education, health and the environment. advocating for community policing.
Once Plan Kenya had organised the Similar interactions occurred in all
capacity building workshop, we young government offices they visited. With this
people took the lead. Government officials information they compiled a report called
attending the trainings shared with us their the ‘Embakasi youth agenda for gover-
concerns and the activities undertaken by nance and development’, and shared it with
their various offices. The constituency all who participated in the exercise through
development committee quizzed us on how a forum presided over by the district
information given to us would help the commissioner.
community. We explained to them how we
intended to increase accountability and Holding local institutions accountable
transparency in grassroots governance and CYNTHIA: Barazas are grassroots policy
development processes. meetings held at village levels and organ-
The organisation later became a house- ised by chiefs, district officers and the local
hold name in the district. The district administration to explain government
commissioner, attending a ceremony for programmes and policies to the people. We
the youth enterprise development fund, attended several barazas to encourage
advised the youth in attendance to ‘emulate young people to take up the opportunities
the Jipange Youth Organisation in their offered by government, such as those in
consistent approach in demanding trans- Box 2.
parency and accountability from grassroots
development committees’. Box 2: Key government programmes
• Youth enterprise development fund – loans
Young citizen engagement with the local advanced to young people to promote their
administration income generating activities.
EDWINE: I became a key link person • Constituency development fund (CDF) –
funds for improving infrastructure at grassroots
between the young people and the govern- level.
ment officials, making it easier for a • Local authority service delivery action plan
collaborative working relationship to (LASDAP) – means by which municipalities can
develop between these two key parties. initiate projects at grassroots levels.
Initially neither found it easy to relate to • Local authority transfer fund (LATF) – to
support street lighting and road repairs.
each other. Gradually, this attitude changed

4. 156 64 Edwine Ochieng and Cynthia Ochola Anyango
A public district forum was held in districts in Kenya, to provide a platform for
November 2010, attended by all district advocating on policy issues and good
departmental heads and civil society governance at regional and national levels.
organisations. At the forum, entitled
‘Embakasi youth agenda for governance Youths monitor government performance:
and development’ we highlighted key social audits
policy issues that we wanted the local EDWINE: A social audit is a way of meas-
administration to address, revolving uring, understanding, reporting and
around our aims (see Box 1). In attendance ultimately improving an organisation’s
was the district commissioner, who social and ethical performance. It helps to
commended the youths and promised to narrow gaps between vision and reality,
work with his team to take up the concerns efficiency and effectiveness. It is a tech-
we raised. Discussion on how to make nique to understand, measure, verify,
every duty bearer responsible ensued, and report on and improve the social perform-
a consensus emerged that grassroots gover- ance of the organisation (FAO, 2003).
nance structures must be made In February 2010, with support from
transparent and accountable to the public. Plan Kenya, the Embakasi youth
The departmental heads committed to conducted social audits on government-
incorporating our concerns into their funded projects at grassroots level. The
respective work plans. Months later, the projects audited were those funded by the
Ministry of Agriculture invited the chair- CDF and the local authority transfer fund
man of Jipange Youth Organisation to (LATF). The aim of this exercise was as
represent young people in the district agri- stated in Box 3.
cultural stakeholders planning committee, In one school visited, worries were
responsible for organising farmer’s field expressed about dubious contractors who
days in the district, among other agricul- use political connections to get tenders
tural activities. and later fail to fulfil them as specified. We
generated a report on the outcome of the
Networking: shared learning social audit, observing that projects were
CYNTHIA: Jipange members, Plan gover- designed without community involve-
nance staff and the district youth officer ment, some were incomplete due to delays
visited Plan Kenya governance in government funds, and community
programmes in Machakos, Kwale and members needed knowledge on project
Tharaka districts. The purpose of these cycles and basic management skills.
visits was to share and reflect on achieve- Completed projects were generating bene-
ments, experiences and challenges and to
borrow from best practices elsewhere. In Box 3: The aims of the social audit
other districts, the young people had mini- • Assessing the physical and financial gaps
mal ideas on how to engage with the local between needs and resources available for local
administration. In Tharaka, for instance, it development.
transpired that the local administration • Creating awareness among beneficiaries and
had not shared with the youth information providers of local social and productive services.
• Increasing efficacy and effectiveness of local
on LASDAP and its possible benefit to development programmes.
them. From these tours we learnt that there • Scrutiny of various policy decisions, keeping in
was value in a collaborative approach when view stakeholder interests and priorities,
working with the government and civil particularly of marginalised groups.
society. This prompted us to register a • Estimating the opportunity costs to
stakeholders when not getting timely access to
national youth and governance consortium public services.
in June 2010, with membership from seven

5. l Local champions: towards transparent, accountable governance in Embakasi, Kenya 157
Photo: Peter Nderitu
fits, such as access to affordable social serv-
ices. The report was shared with the
district development officer, district
commissioner and grassroots develop-
ment committees.
E-governance
CYNTHIA: Plan Kenya supported our
organisation by installing an ICT resource
centre. As members we established its
purpose as providing the public with access
to information, and promoting economic
empowerment and e-governance.
E-governance refers to the use by
government agencies of ICTs that can
transform relations with citizens, busi-
nesses and other arms of government.
These technologies can help improve the
delivery of government services to citizens, The Jipange Youth Organisation: a youth-friendly
their interactions with business and indus- resource centre.
try, their empowerment through access to
information and more efficient govern- proposed supporting the construction of
ment management. Ultimately they can public accountability boards – notice
help reduce corruption and costs and boards used to display information on
increase transparency and revenue. By community activities supported by the
narrowing the distance between service government for the benefit of the people.
providers and clients, our resource centre They are used to enhance transparency and
has become central in helping community accountability on resource use.
members access government services The district commissioner accepted the
online. idea and proposed that they be put in key
district offices including his own. Our role
Box 4: Government online services was to help coordinate the information
• Completing tax returns. posted on the boards and create awareness,
• Tracking applications for identity cards and leading to their use to promote trans-
passports. parency and accountability. However, it has
• E-learning for Kenya certificate of primary
education curriculum.
not been easy to assess (yet) whether
• Government advertised jobs. accessing this information is changing
• Applying for devolved funds. service delivery or access to government
services.
Will transparency lead to accountability in
Embakasi? Box 5: Information provided on public
CYNTHIA: Many questions have arisen on accountability boards
how transparent and accountable grass- • Government departmental service charters.
roots governance processes are to the • Devolved funds project details.
community. Information on the use of • Government tenders.
public funds was never made available to • Reports on use of public funds such as the youth
fund.
the public before, making it difficult to
• Women’s enterprise development fund and
know the status of the many government- emergency contacts.
initiated programmes. Plan Kenya

6. 158 64 Edwine Ochieng and Cynthia Ochola Anyango
Photo: Peter Nderitu
Public accountability boards: set up in a partnership between Jipange Youth Organisation and Plan Kenya.
Challenges and lessons learnt For Plan this was a development
CYNTHIA AND EDWINE: Raising the process in which beneficiaries made their
voice and participation of young people in contributions through participation and
development and governance processes in needed only transport costs. Out-of-pocket
Embakasi has had its challenges. allowances were not refunded. But many
Awareness levels on accountability youth felt they should be granted
among most community people, including allowances for time spent in the work-
other youths, was very low. This meant shops, since many Jipange members were
limited understanding and take-up of our jobless and faced other economic chal-
initiatives. Government officials themselves lenges. As a result, many deserted and
had no idea, for example, about the stopped engaging in our activities.
purpose of public accountability boards. The most challenging aspect of this
As a group, we lacked adequate support programme was the perception held by a
for tracking our impact. There were few government officials and community
instances where Plan Kenya was slow in members that our involvement in the gover-
responding to our needs, leading to activi- nance programme was motivated by money
ties falling behind the scheduled sub-granted to us by Plan Kenya, which was
timeframe. For example, the public not the case. This obstructed our efforts to
accountability boards, which may have a convince government officials to participate
significant impact on local accountability, in certain activities and embrace us as
were put in place almost towards the end of young people and provide the support we
the project in October 2010, so we didn’t needed. Their failure to do so did not deter
have a way to systematically track that us from implementing our activities, and
impact over time. working closely with them as partners.

7. l Local champions: towards transparent, accountable governance in Embakasi, Kenya 159
Photo: Peter Nderitu
Public accountability boards. The Embakasi district service charter outlining the office’s role and core functions
as well as its vision, mission and services.

8. 160 64 Edwine Ochieng and Cynthia Ochola Anyango
Photo: Peter Nderitu
A public accountability board displaying information on community activities supported by the government.
They are used to enhance transparency and accountability.
Creating a broader collaborative participation in decision-making processes.
network among key champions is neces- EDWINE: Building a partnership with
sary for governance programmes to young people is not an easy or obvious task.
succeed. So too is communities’ involve- Governments and youths rarely find
ment in creating organisations which will common working ground and even when
shape and effectively implement the gover- they do, there is normally suspicion to be
nance agendas. The Jipange governance overcome. The collaborative working rela-
initiative succeeded due to the involvement tionship between the Jipange Youth
of sixteen individual youth groups that Organisation and me was helped by the
were beginning to gain a voice in the fact that when Plan Kenya first introduced
community. Through our joint collabora- the programme in Embakasi, they did so
tion, we were able to boldly undertake the through my office, which also registered the
governance programme and increase our organisation. This was the beginning of an

9. l Local champions: towards transparent, accountable governance in Embakasi, Kenya 161
Photo: Peter Nderitu
The Jipange Youth Organisation and visitors at the Plan regional youth and governance forum held at the
Panafric Hotel.
interesting journey. Throughout the needed, bringing key stakeholders on
programme I facilitated almost all the board and linking programme monitoring
capacity building workshops and forums to eventual policy-influencing.
organised by the youth group. In all the
activities undertaken by the group, we Conclusion
consulted extensively and refined our Perhaps our most important conclusion
approaches before implementation with relates to which actors were involved and
technical assistance from the Plan Kenya how. We understood from the start that
Nairobi Urban Development Programme. governance and development processes
The youths proved to be very organised and cannot be delinked from the political
dedicated to the governance programme, processes that exist at the grassroots level.
which encouraged government officials to Nor can they survive without the good will
see them as partners in their daily activi- of both the political players and opinion
ties. leaders who hold sway in decision-making.
Communication and information shar- Plan Kenya took a risk in giving the youth
ing was also key in strengthening the such a lead role, which proved well justi-
partnership and enhancing the quality of fied. The partnership between us – Edwine
decisions taken to promote governance at and Cynthia – and other Jipange members
the grassroots. was crucial. Edwine opened the door to
We found that with success, communi- local government and held it open, and
ties’ expectations are raised and the Cynthia and her peers came in and made
demand for scaling up increases. There- things start happening in a way that is
fore, ‘supply’ has to be ready to meet more accountable to youth and other citi-
‘demand’ and an inclusive approach is zens.

10. 162 64 Edwine Ochieng and Cynthia Ochola Anyango
CONTACT DETAILS
Edwine Ochieng
Gender and Social Development Officer
Embakasi District Office
Government of Kenya
PO Box 20430-00100
Nairobi
Kenya
Tel: + 254 0720455120
Email: moveonafrika@yahoo.com
Cynthia Anyango Ochola
Secretary
Jipange Youth Organisation
Embakasi District
PO Box 174-0518
Kayole
Nairobi County
Kenya
Tel: +254 0726243700
Email: jipangeyo@yahoo.com
REFERENCES
FAO (2003) A handbook for trainers on participatory local
development: The Panchayati Raj model in India. FAO Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, August 2003. RAP
publication 2003/07. Online:
www.fao.org/docrep/006/ad346e/ad346e00.htm
KNBS (2009) Kenya population and housing census. Kenya National
Bureau of Statistics.