Citizen participation in planning and budgeting in the newly-devolved Kenyan counties

The Agile Harmonized Assistance for Devolved Institutions (AHADI) is a USAID-funded program in Kenya designed to strengthen and enable local governments to implement the mandates of devolution as highlighted in the 2010 Constitution of Kenya. Citizen engagement and participatory budgeting lie at the heart of AHADI’s work and the Center for International Development (CID), the program’s implementing agency, requested a Capstone team to conduct a comparative study of different mechanisms used around the world to promote citizen engagement in public expenditure management. Through literature reviews and the use of case studies, the team analyzed mechanisms of participation that have proven successful in involving citizens in the local planning and budgeting process, as well as systems that have been less effective. The team also provided the organization with recommendations of successful mechanisms that would be applicable to the Kenyan context and suggestions to guide AHADI with future research and fieldwork.