1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. …… 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

6. …… 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.

7. …… 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.

8. 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

9. THANK YOU