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"id": 936563,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Kihika",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13216,
"legal_name": "Susan Wakarura Kihika",
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"content": "important that even as we fight corruption, the citizens are aware of what to report, and have the proper institutions in place to have this fight against corruption. That is one of the things that really stood out, given how much of an issue corruption is in our country, as we stand. One of the major objectives of the Summit was to provide peer learning. I recall some members from Georgia talking about how, in their different local governments – that may be equated to the counties in our system of governance – the citizens are so engaged and aware of what is happening. For example, if the governor was supposed to put up a hospital and the county assembly had passed a budget for that hospital to be built, the citizens in that area would be aware of that. They would know what the budget is, and what the timelines are. Beyond knowing, they would go a step further and have a telephone number, where they would call the county, which would give the progress of the project. I thought that was amazing, since it was the citizens who were monitoring this project. They were not just waiting until nothing is done, and then a year or two later, complain that money was spent but they do not see the project. When they are involved from the beginning to the end, it seems to go a long way as far as curbing corruption and also making sure that there is proper public service delivery. On another level, we also talked a lot about having an open government. That is obviously a very important objective in governance – even as the name of the summit sounds ‘Open Government Partnership’ – especially when we talk about democracies. When have an open government where the citizens are able to know what is happening and what is going on, and can walk into institutions and get information, that strengthens governance in any country. It also strengthens institutions, especially where they know that they are required to be open to public scrutiny, and always give information and feedback. They also provide data and whatever is required of them by the citizens or by any other intuitions. Open governance would ensure a very inclusive, just and sustainable democracy. We also heard quite a bit from many delegations on the universal right to access to information. That is something that we are also catching up on, as a country. A few years back, it was impossible to get information. However now, due to the new Constitution, is seems a lot easier to access information, but we still have a long way to go. As long as we have that, it will open up our Government affairs, make it easier to scrutinize the public officers and hold them accountable. We cannot say that we are a democracy, yet we are unable to hold people accountable or at least know what is going on at any given institution, and have the ability to access that information. There was also quite a bit of conversation around leveraging on technology and media, so that we are able to bolster citizen engagement and enhance public integrity. Once again, that goes to open governments, because once the media is reporting on what is going on, you have citizens who are informed, engaged and know what is going on. Integrity then becomes a norm. However, as long as we have a closed system, we can never get there. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this was quite an amazing Summit. Given that our role is protecting and also providing oversight to counties, the Summit really adds value. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}