Canadian envoy calls for strong Kenyan civil society

The Canadian government says Kenya’s public institutions can perform better if closely watched by an active civil society.

David Angell, the Canadian High Commissioner to Kenya, on Tuesday told a leadership workshop that democracies around the world have learnt the value of critics in improving the management of public resources, and that Kenya should take the same route.

“Every government around the world has an area to improve on. One area that is important for Kenya now is ensuring that the civil society is an important participant in the process of democratic dialogue and governance,” he told journalists at the Kenya School of Government (KSG) in Nairobi.

“Our experience in Canada is that a vibrant civil society is an absolutely crucial role to play and we are very open to sharing our experience and the frameworks around which that discussion has been encouraged.”

Mr Angell was speaking to reporters after opening a two-day public management training conference titled Leading Change Effectively in Government.

The workshop, supported by the Canadian government, has been organised by the KSG in conjunction with the African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) and the Institute of Public Administration Canada (IPAC).

A brief about the event said it was meant for senior managers of organisations and that it would provide lessons on “the essential leadership behaviour” that make organisations successful, transparent and accountable to the public.

LAW CHALLENGED

But it comes when the Kenyan government is being accused of trying to pass laws that would stifle civil society and the media deemed critical of the government.

Last year, the National Assembly passed a controversial Security Laws (Amendment) Act to limit certain freedoms in order to fight insecurity and terrorism. The law has since been challenged in court, with some of the clauses being suspended from implementation.

But the government still plans to amend the Public Benefits Act 2013 to introduce more controls on the way NGOs are funded and operated. Activists oppose this step, arguing the 2013 law has in fact never been put to use.

The Canadian envoy said the way government agencies are managed determines whether taxpayers get value for their money.

“Strong accountable public institutions really matter for the ability of societies to achieve their objectives. And so all of us have the responsibility to ensure that all our public institutions are accountable and transparent, and that they respond to the needs of the day,” he said.

“Canada has a devolved government, but it took us generations to implement and Kenyans have allowed themselves a very short period to make that process work. It is an extra-ordinary challenge that Kenyans have taken on. They have done it for the right reasons and I think there is real progress being made.”

Mr Angell commended Kenya’s passage of the 2010 Constitution which created several public entities as a way of correcting mistakes that led to the 2007/8 post-election violence. At least 1,113 people were killed and 600,000 others displaced after elections that were mismanaged by the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK).

“The challenge of making public institutions accountable is a universal one and we have lessons to share with each other.

“Kenya has strong institutions and with the very ambitious Constitution of 2010, Kenya has been implementing a process of institutional change in government that probably has very few precedents in its scope of ambition,” he said.