Some media have reported officials as saying that because there is no policy and no law on public participation, they do not know how to do it. True, a national policy on public participation is in draft form, and Senator Amos Wako’s Public Participation Bill seems to have got stuck at Committee stage in mid-2018. The draft Policy points out some of the current inadequacies of public participation, and is again full of sensible but vague principles and sometimes promises (like adequate funding). In 2014, the Public Service Commission produced a set of guidelines for participation in policy making that are very general. A mid-2018 survey by Twaweza showed that about four out of 10 people who responded had attended a public meeting during the previous year.

Source: The Star March 02, 2019 05:15 UTC