RFP: Consultancy to conduct Assessment of County Public Participation Implementation Bottlenecks – Concern Worldwide

Background and context

Public participation is the process of engagement in governance, in which ‘people participate together for deliberation and collective action within an array of interests, institutions and networks, developing civic identity, and involving people in governance processes. The importance of public participation cannot be overstated. It ensures government responsiveness to citizen needs and increases the legitimacy of the government’s decisions and institutions. Further, at the individual level, public participation increases patriotism and trust in public institutions. This in turn increases social inclusiveness and social capital making public participation a process and not a single stand-alone event.

Article 1(1) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 (Government of Kenya, 2010) vests all sovereign power in the Kenyan people. This power is to be exercised either directly by the people through public participation or indirectly through their democratically elected representatives. Citizen participation was made a national value and a principle of public service in Articles 10(2a) and 232(1) of the Constitution.

In the devolved system of government, the County Government Act (Government of Kenya, 2012a), the Public Finance Management Act (Government of Kenya, 2012b), and the Urban Areas and Cities Act (Government of Kenya, 2011) have called for public participation in drafting new legislation, determining budget priorities, ensuring that public-sector performance and expenditures are reviewed and submitting grievances. In addition, County governments have been tasked with ensuring that the public receives information for public participation, setting in place structures and mechanisms and guidelines for public participation, and also providing an annual report on citizen participation to the County Assembly.

The spirit of the Constitution calls for public participation not only to take place but also to be meaningful, so that it can impact the decision-making processes. Unfortunately, the presence of legally binding rules for public participation has not translated into meaningful practice. Public participation in Kenya’s devolved system of government has had its fair share of challenges, such as limited support from the political class and low levels of civic education, uncoordinated civic education, and challenges in accessing information. (Kenya School of Government, 2015). Other challenges include minimal funding and lack of decentralized structures to facilitate citizen participation at the village level. Additionally, most County public participation processes take place as a formality to meet the minimum requirements of the Constitution, thereby undermining the legitimacy of the public participation process as envisioned in the Constitution.

However, all the counties are at different levels in the implementation of public participation laws. Some have made significant strides towards effective implementation of public participation while others are lagging. There has been a success story in counties such as Makueni, whose public participation model has been lauded by the World Bank (2016). Some of the bottlenecks are common among counties while others are specific to each of the counties. Therefore, the bottlenecks cannot be generalized hence there is a need to assess bottlenecks separately in each county.

Purpose of the Consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy is to assess vis-à-vis existing national and county government regulations, the Public participation implementation gaps and bottlenecks in Isiolo, Kakamega, Kilifi, Nakuru and Mombasa Counties.

This assessment hopes to address the following objectives:

• Status of existing public participation regulations in the target Counties
• Level of implementation of the public participation regulations in the target Counties
• Understand the public participation implementation bottlenecks for each county
• Develop an improvement action plan aimed at addressing identified gaps and bottlenecks in public participation for each of the target Counties

Justification
The task is a technical undertaking for which Concern would like to engage a professional(s) with macro and microeconomics analysis experience, the ability to assess, extract, analyze, and interpret county citizen participation processes and experiences, strong analytical, quantitative, and qualitative research skills, and ability to synthesize across multiple sources. The task is time intensive as it relies on access to government data and practices that may not be freely available and accessing this data may require iterative engagement with multiple individuals in government, relevant stakeholders, and community members. Given the intensity of the task and competing tasks for Concern staff, the team seeks to engage a consultant to undertake the task.

Key Tasks and deliverables from the consultant:
1. Develop an inception report detailing the understanding of the assignment as well as proposed plan of action: i.e. Literature review, methodology, work plan/schedule, and draft data collection tools.
2. Develop and submit a draft report to Concern Worldwide that complies to the following outline:
a. Executive summary – Generally 1-2 pages in length outlining the purpose of the study and findings (but not overwhelm with statistics) and present clear actionable recommendations.
b. Introduction –should refer to the TOR outlining why the study was undertaken
c. Findings – how the objectives have been addressed in a logical manner, for each of the target Counties presented in a logical manner using the analytical framework.
d. Action plan – contextualized action plan to address identified gaps and bottlenecks in public participation for each target County
e. Conclusion –should summarize the findings of the study and their implications for policy and practice. The conclusion should revisit the underlying hypothesis and any specific questions that the study sought to answer.
f. Recommendations – Recommendations should be clear and actionable.
3. Develop and submit a final report ready for print of no more than 25 pages (excluding executive summary, references and annexes) following the format above.

Proposed methodology

Proposed approaches include but are not limited to

1. Document review/desk studies
2. Key informant interviews with the county executive, county assembly, county technical officers, relevant non-government stakeholders engaged in supporting county public participation processes to identify additional data sources (i.e. unpublished data or grey literature)
3. Kenya Informant Interviews and Focussed Group Discussions with select community representatives that have actively been involved in public participation over the past 24 months
4. Review of data sources (these may include a combination of published and unpublished material)
5. Data probing through a 2nd iteration of key informant interviews, as required (this may lead to additional data sources being identified)
6. Sampling of sites of interest using generated data (using clear inclusion and exclusion criteria)
7. Key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussions with community members among other stakeholders.

Technical and Financial proposal

The consultant is expected to submit a technical proposal with their bid, which shall include and not limited to the following:

1. Detailed technical proposal and work plan, including samples of two previous completed assignments in the last 5 years.
2. CV and a cover letter detailing their relevant experience with contact details of three past referees that can be reached by Concern.
3. KRA Pin certificate
4. Tax compliance certificate
5. Methodology and timeframe detailing activities and a schedule/work plan in line with the timeframe provided in this TOR.
6. A detailed financial proposal including level of effort of consultants, travel logistics (air, road, meals and accommodation), research assistants/enumerators, stationary etc.

Lines of Communication

The consultant will be under the direct technical supervision of the Senior Manager Governance and Advocacy, and Manager – Community Engagement at Concern Worldwide. For Contractual matters, the consultant will engage with the Country Programme Director.

Timeframe

The proposed task will be conducted within 30 days in the months of March and April 2024

Essential and Desirable Experience/Qualifications

The suitable consultant must have:

• Advanced degree in public finance, economics, public policy, public administration, social science, leadership/governance, development economics, or a related development field
• Strong understanding of the organization of Government in Kenya, devolved governance, and decentralization. At least 10 years’ experience in governance in Kenya and/or any other developing country with a similar governance system.
• Strong knowledge of Public participation and Public finance management laws, County Government Act, and related amendments and other regulatory frameworks of government.
• Demonstrable previous experience and research skills in conducting similar studies on devolution with leading institutions
• Strong verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with representatives of government
• Excellent command of English and report- writing skills

Other required documentation with your proposal:

i. Company / Consultant profile

ii. Certificate of Incorporation (firms) or National ID card (individual)

iii. Valid Tax Compliance Certificate

iv. PIN Certificate

v. Company / Consultant’s Profile

vi. CVs of key staff

vii. Certificate/reference information of previous undertakings of similar contracts with NGOs/UN agencies

viii. Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct etc. or other necessary provisions that you have put in place to keep everyone safe in the course of your engagement

ix. Attach copy of Certificate of Good Conduct or proof that you have applied for the same