DATE: 20TH MAY, 2017 BY: SENATOR MARTHA WANGARI, MP OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP- KENYA CHAPTER ----------------------------------------- Chapters on Parliaments within Government Action Plans DATE: 20TH MAY, 2017 BY: SENATOR MARTHA WANGARI, MP

BACKGROUND ON THE KENYA NATIONAL ACTION PLAN A steering committee co-chaired by the Ministry of ICT and Office of the Deputy President was established to coordinate the realization of the open government partnership commitments in Kenya. Kenya is currently implementing the second national action plan running from The key milestones are- More transparent and participatory development of climate polices at the national and sub national level Enhancing preventive and punitive mechanisms in the fight against corruption and unethical practices Enhance transparency in the legislative process in Parliament and County Assembly Publish Oil and Gas Contracts, including revenue information to ensure transparency and accountability of the extractive sector Ensure greater transparency around bids and contracts by individuals and companies in Kenya Improving access to government budget information and creating wider and more inclusive structures for public participation

MILESTONES MADE BY PARLIAMENT Public participation on law making process/ petitions/ budget making process Establishment of the Senate Liaison Office Parliamentary outreach programme Language School education programme

STATUS IN IMPLEMENTING THE PARLIAMENT CHAPTER IN THE NATIONAL ACTION PLAN Indicator (i): Enact Public Participation legislation and policy to prescribe avenues, timelines and threshold necessary The Senate published a Bill on public participation and its current awaiting second reading. Indicator (ii): Provide tracked copies of bills in every stage of discussion in Parliament The Senate in collaboration with Mzalendo is working towards establishing an annotated Bills tracker that not only tracks the stage at which a Bill is at, but tracks the amendments as well as justification for amendments made at each stage of law making.

…… CONT.D Indicator (iii): Adopt open-source platforms to enhance internal parliamentary and county assembly communication and also facilitate information sharing with the public The Senate Liaison Office, under the Office of the Speaker, is working to- Establish an information sharing framework with the assemblies coordinated thorough the county liaison officers cross the 47 county assemblies. Revamp the Parliament website that will provide a platform to share information with the public, enhance greater engagement and instant feedback through live chat to the public/ CSOs on legislative business before the House/ Committees

…… CONT.D Indicator (iv): Publish weekly Senate, National Assembly, County Assembly plenary and committee’s proceedings Weekly plenary proceedings are published on the Parliament website, the following day after each sitting. The revamped website will eventually enable committees to broadcast their proceedings as well. Indicator (v): Facilitate citizen engagement with Parliament and County Assembly via alternative media Parliament currently uses social media to engage the public through twitter and Facebook. Recently Parliament activated a YouTube account whereby the public can view parliamentary proceedings. However this is yet to gain popularity. There maybe need to devise ways of popularizing alternative media as a mode for citizen engagement with parliament and assemblies.

…… CONT.D Indicator (vi): Increase Parliament’s participation in the Legislative Openness working group Parliament has participated in a couple of meetings on OGP, legislative openness working group. However there may be need for a more coordinated approach to be taken within Parliament to ensure consistent participation in the working group.

CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS Participation of legislators in development of the national action plan. Coordination of development, implementation and monitoring of the national action plan by Parliaments Knowledge of parliament and the workings of parliament by the civil society Trust between Parliament and civil society organizations

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