Governance through community participation in the Centre for Governance and Development in Kenya

Abstract

Community Participation in development projects is usually advocated in Kenya but rarely practiced meaningfully. The results have not been as impressive as anticipated and there has emerged a pattern of social crisis manifested through corruption, ethnic violence and lack of goodwill among citizens. As a result, the promotion of institutional arrangements meant to afford citizens a platform to influence decisions and the direction of development in their locality emerges as an alternative strategy. This qualitative study sought to investigate how the use of community-based approaches has promoted good governance in the Centre for Governance and Development based in Nairobi province in Kenya. The study found that the expected outcomes of this project have been successful to a large extent but there are challenges that need to be addressed to strengthen it. The level of citizen understanding of participation is very low and the society is still facing challenges that vary from the lack of civic competence, corruption, inequality and lack of inclusiveness. There is a need for proper civic education, increased accountability and promoting citizenship by empowering communities in order to promote participatory governance. The study recommends that proper attention is given to finding a programming bridge to ensure complete understanding, knowledge and practice of holistic public participation. The study also recommends that future research should be done on the need for communities to be encouraged to join Community Based Organisations where they can share experiences and acquire civic skills for participation in governance.