The Future of Devolution is Citizen-Led
Citizens in Kilifi met with their Governor and his cabinet to present their needs - with data.
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From Voice to Action: How Grassroots Citizens are Shaping Democracy in Kilifi
Every year on 15th September, the world pauses to mark the International Day of Democracy, a day to reflect on the state of democracy and celebrate the people and institutions working to uphold it. This year, as the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) celebrates 20 years of advancing democratic values, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reminded…
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What Kenya’s Second Strategy for the Development of Statistics Must Deliver
In 2019, Kenya launched the first Kenya Strategy for the Development of Statistics (KSDS I) – our first attempt to organise how the nation produces, manages, and uses official statistics. It promised four things: a stronger national data system, better quality, smarter investments in people and technology, and wider use of data by citizens. Six…
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How Open Data Is Powering County Success – Reflections from The Devolution Conference
The Devolution Conference 2025 convened in Homa Bay marked a key milestone in Kenya’s political and development calendar. It was a moment to reflect on over 12 years of county-level transparency since the 2013 Constitution. For us at Open Institute, it marked more than a decade of collaborating with counties to build open, responsive institutions…
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Kilifi’s Journey to Community-Led Accountability
Over the past year, Kilifi County has emerged as a shining example of how communities, civil society, and government can come together to use data for meaningful change. With support from the Open Institute and through partnerships with youth-led community-based organisations, such as Kilifi Youth Assembly (KIYA) and the Maono changemaker network, citizens in Kilifi…
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Building Inclusive Data Systems in Kenya: From Dialogue to Action
What happens when people are invisible in the numbers? When communities are omitted from datasets that shape national policy? When stories that are rich, complex, urgent are reduced to a footnote or not recorded at all? In Kenya, where 2.2% of the population — over 1 million people — are recorded as having a disability,…
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We Each Hold a Piece. Let’s Build the Full Picture — Together
By Florence Syevuo and Al Kags At a recent breakfast gathering in Nairobi, we asked each person who walked into the room to take a single puzzle piece. No explanation. No picture of the final image. Just that small fragment, handed over with a quiet challenge. As the morning unfolded, something wonderful happened. Strangers began…
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Public Participation Has Been a Performance. This Bill Could Change That—If We Let It.
Public Participation Bill 2025 When Parliament tabled the Public Participation Bill, 2025, we welcomed it. At last, there’s a serious effort to build structure around a practice that has too often been treated as symbolic. Public participation is not just a constitutional obligation—it’s the soul of democracy. But for too long, the way it’s been…
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Reimagining Data Systems: Principles for Building From the Soil Up
We propose ten principles for guiding the reimagination of digital and data infrastructure. The funding freezes and project shutdowns we are now witnessing across Africa’s public digital infrastructure are not just unfortunate side effects of shifting geopolitics. They are symptoms of a system designed with fundamental weaknesses. And those weaknesses have long been known: dependency…
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Strengthening Narrative Power for Civic Engagement
Last week, we launched a five-month programme in partnership with AFJ-K to engage journalists on how they can promote alternative narratives. It was clear from the first session that this is not just another training. Journalists didn’t just learn about investigative reporting; they challenged, uncovered, and reimagined storytelling. They explored the ethics of reporting, the…
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