The Kisumu County Public Participation Act (2015) has finally been gazetted.
The Act which found its way in the assembly in 2014 was gazetted on December 31 2015 thanks to the support from Concern Worldwide and Kenya Medical and Education Trust (KMET) with funding from European Union.
The act provides that the governor should create a legitimate office of Public participation to plan and conduct public participation affairs of the County Government.
It also states that County Government is expected to conduct public participation from the Village level contrary to Sub-County levels and also gives the residents of Kisumu County powers to petition county Government on matters concerning their interests.
“The Act has realistic timelines for public participation in the first schedule and also asks the county government to consider the visually impaired during public participation,” said Dennis Kongere, Assistant Programme Manager Concern Worldwide.
Counties are required by law to put in place legislation on public participation to give full effect to the County Government Act (CGA 92). A Public Participation Framework provides a roadmap for implementing participation at devolved level, subsequently improving its quality.
“As development partners, we appreciate the milestone made by the County Government of Kisumu. This is a sign of promoting participatory, inclusive and people centered governance at the county level,” said Kongere.
He stated that their partnership with the county of Kisumu has been great and that they envision to building the capacity of the awaiting Public Participation office and awareness creation to ensure the Act is understood and benefits the citizens of Kisumu County.