Following instances where the government has suffered setbacks in court over its failure to conduct public participation in the rollout of its policies, the office of the Attorney General Dorcas Oduor on Tuesday published the Public Participation Bill 2025 with various guidelines to guide the processes.
Under the proposal, each government authority and the Cabinet Secretary in charge of each ministry will develop specific guidelines to be followed during public participation exercises on matters concerning their ministries.
In the proposals, Kenyans, any government official, and entities who fail to adhere to the guidelines of the Act—should Parliament give it the green light—will be liable to a fine of between Ksh300,000 and Ksh500,000.
"A person who, in conducting public participation, fails to adhere to the principles and obligations set out under this Act commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction— (a) in the case of a natural person, to a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand shillings; and (b) in the case of a juristic person, to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings," reads part of the provisions.
Further, the fines will apply to individuals who, in the discharge of their mandates, fail to publish plans and reports regarding public participation exercises undertaken in their departments.
Additionally, individuals and entities that fail to attend public participation exercises will be subjected to fines under the proposed Act. This will extend to those who marginalise certain communities and fail to provide notice of the process.
According to the proposal seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the government will create the office of the Registrar of Public Participation that will be directly in charge of coordinating the public participation process.
The office will be domiciled within the Public Service Commission (PSC), complete with staff and police officers who will be remunerated under the guidelines of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
Furthermore, authorities and entities will be mandated to submit a plan to the Registrar and provide sufficient time (at least 21 days) for public input.
The public participation process will be undertaken using digital tools such as social media and email, as has been the case in the past.
Famous government policies that have suffered setbacks in the past include the Privatization Act which aimed at, among other things, the sale of some loss-making government entities, including the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
Others included the Higher Education Funding Model, which was also dealt a blow by the courts over lack of public participation in its actualisation. However, the program was later given a lifeline by the Court of Appeal in March.
