Meaningful citizen participation in governance is a key ingredient for public reforms that were instituted by the Constitution of Kenya (CoK) 2010. Article 1 (1) of the Constitution vests all sovereign power to the people of Kenya. This power can be expressed through direct participation or indirectly through elected representatives. In addition, various pieces of legislations anchoring devolution highlight the principles of citizen participation. Together, these constitutional and legislative provisions avail various platforms for citizen participation in devolved governance.

This handbook provides reference material for stakeholders in devolved governance, including policy makers at the county level and citizens, on social accountability and its relevance in devolved governance and the attainment of the objects of Kenya’s devolution as highlighted in Article 174 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

Devolution is one form of decentralization. Decentralization is defined as the process of dispersing power from the centre to lower levels of government. The other forms of decentralization include de-concentration, delegation and privatization. De-concentration transfers implementation powers to lower regions or sub- national units that implement decisions made at the centre. The responsibility for service delivery and decision making under delegation is passed to semiindependent territorial or sub-national units.

Public participation is an action or a series of actions a person takes to involve themselves in affairs of government or community. These activities include voting, attending meetings, participating in public or private political discussion or debate on issues, signing a petition on a desired government action or policy, volunteering in community activities and contributing money to a political party or candidate of one’s choice among other similar activities.

The constitution of Kenya 2010 established a devolved system of governance with 47 County governments. The constitution in schedule four also transfers service delivery in health, water and agriculture sector among other functions to county governments.

Land retains a focal point in Kenya's history. It was the basis upon which the struggle for independence was waged. It has traditionally dictated the pulse of our nationhood. It continues to command a pivotal position in the country's social, economic, political and legal relations. It is not surprising therefore that land has since the colonial times to-date, been the subject of myriad state managed policy and legal interventions. Neither is it surprising that it has been the subject of many Commissions of Inquiry.

In the aftermath of the post-election crisis, the issue of land has gained increased urgency. Land reforms represent a central part of Kenya’s reform agenda and indeed, the national reconciliation agenda as negotiated by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga under the aegis of Kofi Annan in early 2008.

Kenya’s land governance system is fashioned to facilitate land expropriation for the few and powerful who continue to resist reforms.

This is despite the fact that the dynamics of land reform are driven by apprehensions of mischief associated with the history that explains why the National Land Commission was established with mandate, independent of the Executive.

CAPITALISM

From the British conquest, Kenya’s land governance system was never meant to be inclusionary and equitable.

Kenya has been integrating climate considerations into various legal and governance instruments for some time. Notably, there has been progress made in planning and implementing policies, projects and programs in key economic sectors in order to align Kenya with the international community’s approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promote climate resilience.

Humanitarian and development organizations working in conflict-affected settings have a particular responsibility to do no harm and contribute to the wellbeing of the population without bias. The highly complex, politicized realities of work in conflict- and post-conflict settings often require quick, pragmatic and results-oriented decisions, the foundations of which remain frequently implicit. Such decisions might follow an intrinsic logic or situational pragmatism rather than intensive deliberation.

The key question in this article is the extent to which current real property expropriation practices in Kigali city promote spatial justice. Current studies focus on the ambiguous manner in which real property valuation had been regulated by the expropriation law of 2007, leading to unfair compensation and various conflicts between expropriating agencies and expropriated people. Following its amendment in 2015, the law currently provides clearer procedures for valuation and fair compensation, based on the market prices.

Land-use planning (LUP), an instrument of land governance, is often employed to protect land and humans against natural and human-induced hazards, strengthen the resilience of land systems, and secure their sustainability. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) underlines the critical role of appropriate local action to address the global threat of land degradation and desertification (LDD) and calls for the use of local and regional LUP to combat LDD and achieve land degradation neutrality. The paper explores the challenges of putting this call into practice.