Naivasha, Kenya, October 2022 – The APRM Continental Secretariat (APRM), the German Development Agency (GIZ) and the NEPAD/APRM Kenya Secretariat (NAKS) organised a two-day Validation Workshop in which various key stakeholders including representatives from Ministries, Departments, representatives of some Counties, Agencies and Non-State Actors in Kenya participated in reviewing and validating the National Governance Report of Kenya (NGR).
The completion of the NGR of Kenya was supported by the APRM Continental Secretariat and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) to actualize the Framework for National Governance Reporting and implementation of the Decision taken at the 32nd African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government that urged all AU Member States to develop national governance reports as a self-assessment tool for promoting good governance as well as the recommendation made by the 4th Ordinary Session of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Public Service, Local Government, Urban Development and Decentralization (AU-STC 8), held on 31st August 2022, in Cairo , Egypt.
The Validation of the National Governance Report Kenya was opened by Hon. Eric Simiyu Wafukho; Chief Administrative Secretary of the National Treasury & Planning – State Department for Planning. In his remarks, Hon. Wafukho thanked the APRM Continental Secretariat and the NEPAD/APRM Kenya Secretariat for their efforts to ensure Kenya continues to improve its governance and that the feedback provided by such a report must be taken into consideration for institutions to double their efforts in improving governance at all levels.
In his remarks, Amb. Samori Okwiya; Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD/APRM Kenya Secretariat thanked the APRM Continental Secretariat and the GIZ for supporting the development of the NGR of Kenya and its validation. He thanked all participants for their role during the data collection process as well as their contribution to the Report. Amb. Samori said that Kenya is not only ready to share their experience with other APRM Member States but will also prepare its second NGR in 2023. He concluded by commending the work done by the Team led by Mr. Peter Kimemia, the Director of APRM National Secretariat of Kenya and Dr. Othieno Nyanjom, the National Consultant for compiling the Report.
Speaking on behalf of the APRM Continental Secretariat, Mrs Clementine Nyinawumuntu; Coordinator in charge of National Governance Reporting Program briefed the audience on the genesis of the programme and recalled that Kenya committed to develop the NGR in December 2019, at the launch of the Africa Governance Report (AGR, 2019) in Nairobi. This commitment was reiterated during the APRM Committee of Focal Points meeting that adopted the Framework for national governance reporting in February 2020, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However the delivery on this program was met with various challenges including Covid-19 Pandemic among others, which caused inordinate delay in submitting the Report, but Kenya was not deterred; it completed and submitted the Report in April 2022. Mrs Clementine emphasised on the importance of generating national governance reports regularly as a sustainable way to measure qualitatively and quantitatively the performance of the most important aspects of democratic and political governance. She requested APRM Kenya Secretariat to ensure that this Report is disseminated to relevant institutions to inform policy making and improving public services.
Given the importance of national governance reporting, the APRM Continental Secretariat will continue to engage member states through Focal Points, on the necessity of generating national governance reports.
