Part One: Background to Access to Information Act and Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) By Simon Nzioka, Senior Legal Officer, CAJ and Irene Nasserian, Senior Legal Officer, CAJ.
Part Two: General ATI regulations by Simon Nzioka, Senior Legal Officer, CAJ and Irene Nasserian, Senior Legal Officer, CAJ.
About the Radio Talk Shows
This is the Final Report of Development Through Media (DTM) on the activities undertaken towards the production and broadcasting of two Radio Talk Show episodes on Access to Information Act, 2016 and its Regulations. The activities were designed under the programme: Promoting Enabling Environment for Civil Society to Hold Government to Account Through Access to Information, which is being implemented by the Civil Society Reference Group (CSRG) in partnership with the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman). The project was premised on the fact that while the benefits that come along with Access to Information are well articulated in Kenya’s Access to Information Act that was enacted way back in 2016, the Act itself is yet to be fully and effectively implemented. This is because the Access to Information Regulations and Guidelines drafted in 2020, were yet to be adopted. It is for this reason that CSRG and CAJ partnership aimed to up-scale efforts towards creating an enabling environment for the adoption of the draft regulations on Access to information. The project also aims to empower CSOs, HRDs and other Kenyan communities, with the knowledge and subsequently, the ability to hold leaders to account as regards the promise of the Act. DTM join the partnership during the development stage where it was required to respond the project’s need to have two radio talk show episodes produced and broadcast through the Radio Baraza initiative and also promoted through Social Media (SM).
About the Partners
CIVIL SOCIETY REFERENCE GROUP (CSRG)
The Civil Society Reference Group (CSRG) is a membership organization that brings together community-based organizations (CBOs), national as well as international NGOs and other citizen formations, established in 2009, advocating for the establishment of enabling legal, institutional and operational environment for civil society organizations in Kenya through policy advocacy, capacity building and development, outreach and promotion of self-regulation among organizations. Its vision is to promote a conducive and enabling civic environment for CSOs with a role to inform, unite and amplify the voice of Kenyan society. The CSRG has been at the forefront pushing for the implementation of the Public Benefit Organizations Act of 2013 that holds the promise of promoting an enabling regulatory environment that the sector desires, and from which the network draws its core values alongside the Constitution of Kenya.
Civil Society Reference Group has been working in Kenya for over 10 years, predominantly on governance and civic space. Thematic areas of programming include mutual protection, policy advocacy and media, leadership, self-regulation and institutional strengthening. In CSRG’s current strategy our vision is a conducive and enabling civic environment for civil society organizations (CSOs) based in and/or working in Kenya and the Region.
For more information about CSRG please visit https://www.civilsocietyrg.org/
The Commission on Administrative Justice – Office of the Ombudsman, is a constitutional commission established under Article 59(4) of the Constitution, and the Commission on Administrative Justice Act, 2011.
The Office of the Ombudsman has a two-fold, working across both the national and county governments. The first mandate of the Commission is to tackle maladministration (improper administration) in the public sector. Here, the Commission’s powers include investigating complaints of delay, abuse of power, unfair treatment, manifest injustice or discourtesy. The Commission’s second mandate of overseeing and enforcing the implementation of the Access to Information Act, 2016.
For more information about CAJ please visit https://www.ombudsman.go.ke/
DEVELOPMENT THROUGH MEDIA (DTM)
Development Through Media (DTM) aims to be a strategic media and advocacy partner in programmatic interventions by CSOs and other players in the overall development sector across all development themes.
DTM is among the first non-profit and development oriented media organisation to set up in Kenya in 1996 as a local idea in response to challenges that continue to stand in the way of developing independent and all-inclusive media and broadcast models/institutions for advocacy work here in Kenya and in the region. DTM envisions a well-informed and knowledgeable society that is inclusive and just. Its mission is to use the media to promote among other things, socioeconomic, accountability, constitutionalism, electoral justice and political empowerment of all citizens, including women, youth and other marginalised groups.
DTM has utilised the experiences gained and skills developed over the years working in the CSO sector, to create the Radio Baraza strategy (RB) as an innovated content production, promotion and broadcast model for CSOs and overall development sector advocacy. RB combines production and promotional strategies with a fully-fledged broadcast component that currently operate online and dedicated exclusively to the promotion of development-oriented information. RB has several features, which include Live Radio and other semi-independent sections each with a “Listen on Demand (LoD)” feature. The Live Radio and LoDs are accessible to listeners across Kenya and around the world on a 24/7 basis.
For more information about RB please visit https://www.radiobaraza.org/
