Reform Description

Machakos County, in collaboration with the Institute of Public Finance, commits to deploying an AI-powered platform—Sauti ya Bajeti ("A Voice of the Budget")—to elevate its participatory governance and deliver more efficient investment outcomes. By leveraging technology, the county aims to optimize its limited resources to better meet the developmental needs of its citizens. This reform is designed to ensure the meaningful inclusion of all voices, particularly women, youth, and professionals who may not attend traditional forums. Through remote access, professionals can now participate in shaping county budgets, policies, and legislation from their offices or workplaces.

Sauti ya Bajeti will enable:

1. Access to digital participatory platforms,
2. Informed deliberations between citizens and government,
3. Citizen voting on budget and policy priorities, and
4. Robust, real-time feedback mechanisms.

This cutting-edge, AI-driven solution places budget data and related documents directly into the hands of citizens, ensuring timely, simplified, and convenient access to critical information. Using WhatsApp—a platform already widely used—residents can simply chat with the AI agent to access the information they need to participate meaningfully in decision-making and hold the county government accountable.


Problem(s) Addressed by Reform

Although Kenya’s 2010 Constitution and subsequent legislation have institutionalized citizen participation in governance, the enabling legal frameworks remain broad and lack detailed guidelines on the forms, formats, and procedures for participation. This has led to inconsistent interpretation and implementation across counties. In Machakos, while the county has adopted a structured, four-stage model for public participation to enhance inclusion and deliberative quality, significant gaps in reach and effectiveness persist.

Participation remains low among key groups, especially professionals and business leaders, who cite the process’s time-consuming and rigid nature as a deterrent. Since participation often requires physical attendance, many citizens—particularly those working in neighboring Nairobi—are unable to engage due to logistical and financial constraints. This contributes to the perception that participation is burdensome and inaccessible unless facilitated with incentives such as transport or refreshments, which in turn drives up the cost for the government and limits scalability.

Additionally, limited civic awareness and access to information continue to hinder meaningful engagement. Many citizens prioritize narrow, localized interests without understanding the broader trade-offs required at the county level. This is largely a result of poor access to critical planning and budget documents such as the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), Annual Development Plans (ADPs), and budget frameworks. The low availability and usability of such information undermines the public’s ability to make informed contributions.

A further challenge is the absence of timely and transparent feedback mechanisms. Even when citizens do participate, they often receive no communication on how their input influenced decisions. This weakens public trust and discourages continued engagement, reinforcing a belief that participation is symbolic rather than substantive.

In sum, this reform seeks to address several interconnected problems:

1. Ambiguity in participation guidelines, leading to fragmented and uneven implementation;
2. Exclusion of professionals and working citizens, who face practical barriers to engagement;
3. High costs of in-person participation, which constrain inclusivity and strain county resources;
4. Limited access to budget and planning information, reducing the technical quality of public input;
5. Inadequate civic education, which fosters misaligned and parochial demands;
6. Weak feedback loops, which erode citizen trust and accountability.

By addressing these challenges, Machakos County aims to foster a more inclusive, informed, and cost-effective participatory process that reflects diverse voices and enhances both legitimacy and development impact.

This reform marks a transformative step in overcoming the systemic barriers to inclusive, informed, and cost-effective citizen participation in Machakos County. By deploying Sauti Ya Bajeti, an AI-powered digital platform accessible via WhatsApp, the county makes critical budget and policy information available to citizens in a synthesized, user-friendly format. This helps demystify complex financial documents and empowers citizens to meaningfully engage in budgetary and policy decisions.

By introducing an online participatory channel that complements existing in-person platforms, Sauti Ya Bajeti significantly reduces the logistical and financial barriers traditionally associated with public participation. Citizens—particularly professionals, businesspeople, and residents working in Nairobi—can now engage remotely, at their convenience, without requiring transport or physical presence at public forums. This not only expands reach but also reduces the overall cost of participation for both citizens and the county government.

The platform is also designed to enhance the quality of public participation. Through easy-to-navigate AI prompts and conversation threads, citizens can access curated content on the budget process, relevant legal frameworks such as the Public Finance Management Act, and specific opportunities for input. For example, a user can simply ask, “What are the key priorities in the current budget?” or “How can I participate in the next budget forum?” and receive instant, clear responses. This just-in-time access to accurate, actionable information strengthens the technical depth of citizen contributions and supports more reasoned, evidence-based deliberations and prioritization.

Additionally, Sauti Ya Bajeti serves as a powerful civic education tool. By integrating interactive learning prompts into the platform’s conversational AI, the system fosters ongoing public awareness and knowledge-building. Citizens can self-learn key concepts, processes, and rights, effectively bridging the civic education gap and building a more informed and engaged public over time.

Crucially, the platform also closes the feedback loop. Through its AI-enabled two-way communication functionality, citizens can track how their input was considered in final decisions, submit queries or petitions, and receive real-time updates from the government. This fosters transparency, builds trust, and reinforces the legitimacy of the participatory process.

Overall, Sauti Ya Bajeti represents a scalable, cost-efficient, and inclusive model that directly responds to the challenges outlined—ranging from limited access to information and low participation by professionals, to inadequate civic education and weak feedback mechanisms. It is a concrete step toward institutionalizing citizen voice in decision-making and ensuring that governance in Machakos is truly participatory, data-informed, and accountable.

Relevance to OGP Values

Sauti Ya Bajeti is firmly grounded in the core values of open government—transparency, public accountability, and civic participation—by transforming how citizens access information, engage with their government, and contribute to decision-making processes. The platform mandates the county to upload and maintain a comprehensive and timely repository of key public finance documents, including County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs), Approved Budgets, implementation reports, procurement records, and audit findings. This proactive disclosure ensures that all citizens, regardless of geography or profession, can access critical information in a simplified and synthesized format.

The AI engine powering Sauti Ya Bajeti uses this data to respond to citizen queries in real-time via WhatsApp, Kenya’s most widely used messaging platform. This radically reduces barriers to information and enables continuous access to credible and updated budget data—placing the power of scrutiny, oversight, and engagement directly in the hands of citizens. With better information, citizens are more equipped to ask informed questions, propose realistic priorities, and track the county’s performance, thereby strengthening transparency and public accountability.

Moreover, the platform goes beyond static access to information by offering interactive civic education. Through customized prompts such as, “Would you like to learn about how citizens can participate in county budgeting?” users can explore bite-sized, accessible content on public finance laws, participation opportunities, and government obligations. This enhances citizens’ knowledge, enabling them to meaningfully engage in policy and budget discussions.

Sauti Ya Bajeti also establishes a continuous two-way communication channel between government and citizens. Unlike traditional participation forums that are periodic and physically limiting, the platform enables real-time feedback, petitions, and comments on key policy issues or budget decisions. This feature ensures that civic participation is not a one-time event but an ongoing dialogue, responsive to emerging needs and concerns.

Through these mechanisms, Sauti Ya Bajeti operationalizes open government principles by making participation more inclusive, information more accessible, and government more accountable—thus redefining how transparency and engagement are achieved at the subnational level.

Intended Results

1. Increased Citizen Participation: Raise engagement levels by 50% among underrepresented groups. 
2. Enhanced Access to Information: Ensure 60% of residents can access key documents easily. 
3. Improved Public Accountability: Establish feedback loops with 75% of citizen inputs acknowledged.
4. Strengthened Civic Education: Increase awareness, with 70% of users reporting improved understanding of governance.
5. Data-Driven Decision Making: Provide actionable insights for policymakers based on citizen interactions.

Milestones

1. Completion of Initial Testing (June 2025: Finalize user testing of the Access to Information (ATI) module.
2. Deployment of ATI Module (July 2025): Launch the ATI module, ensuring public access to key financial documents.
3. Launch of Participatory Budgeting (PB) Module (October 2025):  Implement the PB module, allowing citizens to engage in budget prioritization.
4. Development of Social Accountability Module (November 2025):  Begin work on the Social Accountability module focused on monitoring services.
5. Full Implementation of All Modules (November 2026): Complete the rollout of all modules and integrate feedback mechanisms.
6. Evaluation and Feedback Assessment  (December 2026): Conduct assessments to evaluate citizen engagement and platform effectiveness.

Is Civil Society Involved?

Yes, civil society is actively involved in shaping the action and will continue to play a role in implementation. 

1. Co-Creation Process: Institute of Public Finance (IPF), Mzalendo and Youth Senate Kenya led the co-creation efforts, ensuring that diverse perspectives are included.
2. Ongoing Engagement: Civil society groups will collaborate in developing the Participatory Budgeting module and provide feedback during implementation to ensure the platform meets community needs.
3. Capacity Building: Civil society partners will also help in training citizens on using the platform, enhancing overall participation.

This collaborative approach ensures that the Sauti ya Bajeti initiative is responsive to the needs of the community and promotes sustainable engagement.