Happy new year! We hope that this year will be for you (and for us), a year of prosperity and great impact. We have been fairly quiet these past few months because most of the work that we do, is in Kenya. In Kenya, we have had a prolonged electioneering period. We conducted general elections…
At the Open Institute, we have grown to believe that the power to fight inequality in all its forms lies in people. It is in people that the possibility of wide acceptance and tolerance abides. It in people that the ability of the world to change and find its better self lies. It is for…
The Open Institute is really excited to release the beta version of a new iteration of DevolutionHub. DevolutionHub is designed as a one-stop-repository for all devolution documents in Kenya. The project was developed in recognition that there is a need in Kenya, to have an easy-to-use platform where the body of knowledge that is developed on…
One thing that always, always strikes me when I go for community meetings in places like Lanet Umoja is how far removed they are to the high levels of government, academia and the UN. They are a far distance not just in kilometres but also – and especially – conceptually. The beginnings of the meetings…
Very frequently, and more so lately, our team gets up very early in the morning and prepares to set off to Lanet Umoja location in Nakuru County. We usually leave at about lunch time, having made many small and important logistical preparations. On most days, we are ferrying boxes filled with paper forms – data…
Yesterday at the World Bank in Washington DC, I had the pleasure to spend lunch hour reflecting with colleagues there about the progress that Kenya is making with bringing government closer to citizens – especially using devolution. In my reflections, I also discussed not just the practical gaps that exist in making devolution work, but…
Having been involved in promoting the Open Government Partnership over the past couple of years in Africa, I have had a couple of experiences that have introduced a nagging worry at the back of my head that has continued to grow. Today, in conversation with colleagues at OpentheGovernment.org, where I am spending my days, the nagging worry codified…
At Open Institute we are thrilled that our very own Al Kags has been selected as one of the inaugural cohort of Washington fellows, under the Young African Leadership Initiative. Joining 45 other Kenyan fellows, he will be in the US for three months most of which will be spent at Open The Government, a…
In November last year, as the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams were being held, we released data that we have collected relating to primary (or elementary in some countries) school education in Kenya. Through KCPE Trends, we released KCPE results data with the view of stimulating conversations about education standards in Kenya. In doing…
This past week I was invited by the National Democratic Institute team in Kenya to speak at a conference they organised in Nairobo to discuss the elections. They asked me to discuss lessons from the Kenya Open Data Initiative that might be useful in thinking about elections management in Kenya and other countries. In the last few…
