The New Partnership for Africa’s Development African Peer Review Mechanism (NEPAD-APRM) has commenced the validation of citizen feedback on governance in Kisumu County, with officials saying the exercise will strengthen accountability, improve service delivery and enhance public participation in devolved governance.
The County Peer Review Mechanism (CPRM) has entered its third phase, bringing together stakeholders at the sub-county level to validate findings gathered from citizens during Focus Group Discussions conducted between May and July 2026.
The exercise seeks to establish whether the preliminary assessment accurately reflects citizens’ experiences with the implementation of devolved functions, governance and service delivery at the ward level.
Kisumu Governor Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o received the NEPAD-APRM team in his office on Monday and recalled his involvement in the NEPAD initiative since its establishment.
Nyong’o said the validation process was important in strengthening feedback mechanisms in a democratic country such as Kenya, where citizens have a critical role in assessing government performance and influencing development priorities.
He said citizen participation was essential in ensuring that governance systems remained responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people.
The validation exercise has brought together participants drawn from diverse groups, including women, youth, boda boda operators, civil society organisations, traders, persons with disabilities, farmers and faith-based organisations.
The stakeholders are reviewing findings from the earlier consultations and providing additional information and feedback before the assessment reports are finalised.
Former Busia Governor and NEPAD-APRM Secretariat Chairman Sospeter Ojaamong, who spoke during the meeting with the Kisumu governor, said the team had returned to the county to validate information previously collected from members of the public on governance.
Ojaamong said the team had been engaging citizens to understand how they perceive governance, their experiences with government institutions and their expectations concerning service delivery.
“Our team has been here for some time, collecting information from the public, how they feel, how they see they are being governed, and their wishes,” Ojaamong said.
He said the validation process would give citizens an opportunity to confirm whether their views had been captured accurately and provide additional information where necessary.
The exercise will be conducted across various sub-counties over a period of one week before the findings are consolidated for further review.
Ojaamong said the findings would subsequently inform a peer review conference in Nairobi, where governors will have an opportunity to assess one another’s governance practices, identify gaps and share best practices.
He said the peer review would allow counties to learn from each other and develop practical approaches to addressing challenges affecting service delivery and governance.
“They will peer review each other and see, learn from each other the best practices, the gaps that are there, and how best they can come up with the best solutions to govern their subjects,” he said.
Boniface Makokha, a peer reviewer for Economic Planning under the National Treasury, said the County Peer Review Mechanism provides citizens with an opportunity to give constructive feedback to both county and national governments.
Makokha said the feedback would enable governments to better understand the experiences of citizens and use the information to improve planning, budgeting and service delivery.
“One of the things I want to mention is that the County Peer Review Mechanism is a very good initiative that allows Mwananchi to be able to provide feedback to the governors and also the national government. The reason being because once we get the constructive feedback that helps governments to plan well,” Makokha said.
He described CPRM as a noble initiative that promotes government accountability, service delivery and citizen participation.
Makokha said the mechanism also supports the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda by placing citizens at the centre of planning and decision-making.
“At the national level, we are implementing the Bottom-Up Transformation Agenda. The CPRM is making the BETA a reality because we put Mwananchi at the centre of everything,” he said.
He disclosed that the county peer review exercise was voluntary, noting that Kisumu County had agreed to participate in the process to allow its governance practices to be assessed and areas requiring improvement identified.
“Kisumu County allowed this initiative to be carried out voluntarily, by letting us come and review us and tell us what we are doing well, and the gaps so that we improve on it,” he said.
Ambassador Rukia Subow, a panelist reviewing the findings, said the team would seek feedback from Kisumu residents on whether their views had been accurately reflected in the assessment report covering 14 thematic areas.
Subow said the validation would give residents an opportunity to assess the findings and determine whether the rating reflected their experiences with governance and service delivery in the county.
“We want to hear from the wananchi if their views reflect on the rating report of the governor of Kisumu, which is currently rated at an average of 50 per cent,” Subow said.
She said the validation exercise would provide an important opportunity for citizens to clarify issues raised during the earlier assessment and ensure the final report accurately represented the views of the people.
Once the validation exercise is completed, Subow said the team would consolidate the findings into a report to be presented and discussed at a peer review conference scheduled for October.
She expressed confidence in public participation, saying residents were increasingly recognising that government resources come from taxpayers and should therefore be scrutinised by citizens.
“The 16 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT), for instance, is the money coming back to them and they need to know if it’s working on health, education, environment, among other thematic areas,” she said.
Subow said greater public awareness and participation would enable citizens to demand accountability and monitor the implementation of government programmes.
The County Peer Review Mechanism is a domesticated application of the African Peer Review Mechanism adopted by African heads of state. It provides a platform for counties to assess their governance practices, identify gaps and learn from one another.
The mechanism seeks to promote compliance with legal provisions, alignment with Kenya’s Vision 2030, implementation of the Council of Governors’ resolutions on peer reviews and institutionalisation of good governance.
It also aims to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration among counties while giving citizens a greater role in assessing governance and service delivery.
The CPRM is expected to contribute to improved governance and service delivery, better management of diversity, national unity and cohesion at the grassroots, poverty reduction, reduced leakage of public revenue, improved tracking of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063, and enhanced citizen participation.
The programme had reviewed 12 counties by the inaugural CPRM Summit held in August 2024, with a projection of 24 counties to be reviewed by 2025.
Makokha said lessons from the county peer review process would also inform the national conversation on Kenya’s development beyond Vision 2030.
“Going forward we are going to learn from the NEPAD Secretariat, the lessons learnt in terms of doing County Peer Review Mechanism and how we can apply them on the national conversation of Beyond Vision 2030,” he said.
Beyond Vision 2030 is Kenya’s ongoing national conversation to develop a long-term development framework that will succeed Vision 2030, whose implementation period ends in 2030.
The process seeks to place citizens and stakeholders at the centre of defining Kenya’s development priorities, with discussions covering economic transformation, job creation, technology, healthcare, education, infrastructure, governance and climate resilience.
The proposed framework is expected to provide a long-term development direction beyond 2030, with Vision 2060 emerging as the proposed longer-term horizon.
The findings from the Kisumu validation exercise will therefore feed into the October peer review conference, where governors are expected to compare experiences, identify governance gaps and share approaches to addressing challenges across counties.
NEPAD and APRM are key development and governance initiatives of the African Union.
NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, is a strategic economic framework aimed at eradicating poverty, promoting sustainable development and placing African countries on a path of inclusive economic growth.
The framework focuses on areas including agriculture, climate change, infrastructure, human development, economic governance and regional integration. Its implementation is coordinated continent-wide through the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, which works to mobilise resources and promote regional development.
The African Peer Review Mechanism, on the other hand, is a voluntary self-monitoring and assessment tool through which participating African countries review governance practices and assess compliance with agreed standards and commitments.
Its thematic areas include democracy and political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance and socio-economic development.
By Mabel Keya-Shikuku and Dorothy Pamella
