Migori residents applaud first public participation budget-making process

Migori,

Wednesday, November 01, 2023

KNA by Belinda Oyanda/Geoffrey Makokha

Migori residents have applauded the move by the national government to hold a public participation forum for the 2024/2025 medium-term budget-making process in the County.

During a function chaired by the Migori County Commissioner (CC)Mr. David Gitonga at Migori Teachers Training College (TTC) and, the CC revealed that the forum was the first-ever participatory national government budget-making process at the county level.

The pioneering approach in budget-making process has seen a surge in the number of Migori citizens actively participating in decisions that directly impact their community by contributing their thoughts on where their financial resources should be prioritized.

Gitonga said that the forum aimed to gather views, opinions, and recommendations from the Migori residents to help inform the 2024-2025 medium budget-making process.

The Administrator noted that the Constitution of Kenya promulgated in 2010 restructured and transformed the state by placing the citizens at the center of development and related governance processes by providing for public participation as one of the principles and values of governance.

He noted that members of the public are key in the budget-making process that would give the budget committee an easy time to prioritize and initiate budget ideas for the country.

Gitonga expressed enthusiasm about the high level of engagement from various groups that included youth representatives, clergies, unions, local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and representatives from the County Government, highlighting the importance of involving citizens in decision-making processes that affect their daily lives.

“We have representatives from all the 12 Sub- Counties in our county and all the social groups have been able to actively participate and give their inputs and recommendations to the budget committee members; with project priorities of what they want to be initiated first,” said Gitonga.

The administrator urged the public to give their opinions and views so that they can be considered and implemented in the budget-making process.

He acknowledged that going forward the government had an agenda to put public participation as an integral democratic aspect to give the citizens an opportunity to project their ideas and opinions in the budgetary-making process. 

 “This public participatory approach will ensure that the budget-making process truly reflects the needs and aspirations of our community making it an exciting step towards a more transparent, democratic, and people–centric governance structure”, noted Gitonga.

Achieng Owino, a resident from Rongo Sub County called upon the government to devolve further the budget-making process to the ward and village levels to enable more locals to participate in the budget decision-making.

Achieng pointed out that the forum had given them a voice to project priorities that need to be addressed in the budget at the lowest levels.

He disclosed that the budget forum was an eye-opener that has informed and educated the public on the importance of giving out views and opinions that may need to be incorporated and implemented for the betterment of society.

Similar sentiments were shared by Migori Bunge Sacco official Julius Ouko who urged the government to make the budget-making process a continuous practice to help the country come up with inclusive and rich ideas that can inform the budget process.

He noted that the opinions, views, and ideas given at the forum will elevate the budget-making process to help the people by addressing urgent and important issues in society.

The residents also urged the committee to maximize, incorporate, and implement the rich input from the local residents with special implementation priorities given to the stalled projects in the county.

Other recommendations on the budget-making process by the residents included the uplifting of Migori County Referral Hospital (MCRH) to level 6, the establishment of a cancer center at MCRH, the renovation of Thimlich Ohinga tourism site, and the expansion of the Lichota airstrip.

The committee for the public participation forum on the 2024/2025 medium-term budget-making process will be in Kisumu and Kisii to collect views and ideas from the county residents.

Courtesy; KNA