NEW FESTIVAL PROMOTING LEADER CENTRIC GOVERNANCE LAUNCHED

Nairobi 6 March 2020—More than 1,500 participants are converging at the National Museums of Kenya between 5 to 7 March 2020 for the second edition of the People Dialogue Festival, an initiative of the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD-Kenya). The festival provides a rare opportunity for Kenyans to meet, mingle, discuss with and pose questions to decision makers and the political elite in structured and moderated conversations on a range of governance, social and economic issues. Last year, the participants included government officials, politicians, diplomats, CSOs, religious organizations, professional associations, academia, students, and trade unions and party members. The Festival is a unique event where the governed and the governors meet to freely discuss the issues affecting them. Most importantly it seeks to offer ways in which the country can use the political process to achieve sustainable development. Among the high profile speakers slated for this year include Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi, his Senate counterpart Kenneth Lusaka and key political leaders, namely Hon. Raila Odinga, Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka, Governors, Senators, MPs, Youth leaders, Private and Civil Society leaders among others. Key members of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) as well as various State Agencies will also be in attendance to field any questions from the participants. The importance of the BBI cannot be gainsaid because of the central role it is playing in our national political discourse. The members will field questions from the participants at the three day Festival Speaking ahead of the epoch making event, CMD-Kenya Chair Senator Abshiro Soka Halake said: “CMD-Kenya is seeking to place political and civic actors at the centre of the national conversation and reform processes aimed at safeguarding our country’s democratic gains. To create sustainable change, the ongoing national dialogue should be easily accessible, people centred and must strive to have as many participants from as many corners of the country as possible.” On his part, CMD Executive Director Mr. Frankline Mukwanja said: “As an interparty dialogue organization, we have challenged ourselves to establish spaces for dialogue among state and non-state actors as well as citizens to strengthen their relationships towards the overall good of the country’s democratic development. It is on this basis that CMD-Kenya initiated the PDF concept to provide an alternative space for dialogue between citizens and their leaders by bringing members of the public, political parties, civic actors and policy makers to engage in dialogue on a wide variety of social, economic and governance issues within the context that the real solutions must come collectively from both progressive and democratic Kenyans, political and opinion leaders as one.” The Festival has come up with seven topics which the participants will discuss in depth and these include: Reforms in Governance Key to Success of Kenyans How is this governance reform momentum and engagement going to translate into concrete solutions to a series of these long-standing issues that have arrested Kenya’s democratic development, economic progress and security? Representatives from the Executive, Legislature, Civil Society and Private Sector will discuss these issues. Discipline: How to Bring Political Decisions Back to Political Parties? Here the questions being asked include: Why are politicians struggling with party discipline? Must politics be a team sport? Is rising above the party positions and the leadership’s positions that got you elected a form of self-importance? Are Parliamentary caucuses engaged in free and frank discussion of issues of the day? Are internal dispute resolution mechanisms sufficiently democratic? What effect does lack of discipline have on trust in political parties? Sustainable Development – The Nexus between Local and International Development In this session, participants will interact with high ranking policy makers and implementers in Kenya Government, Private Sector, Academia, Experts and Diplomats as they have their take on the SDGs, government development priorities, discuss whether these are the right priorities and what can be done to ensure sustainable implementation. Young People in Democracy: What They Know and How They Engage Meet the insiders, professionals, disengaged, disgruntled and the disenfranchised youth as they discuss their unique diversity and how they are engaging/want to engage government. What is their position and where is their voice? Are they meaningfully engaged? How do they sustain their engagement in political process? Taking Integrity to the People The important question is what does every Kenyan need to do to stop the loss of colossal amounts of money that are corruptly paid out through well-choreographed schemes by government officers, individuals and institutions? This panel and plenary discussion will include key government agencies, private sector, CSOs, FBOs and general public. The Scorecard – Appraising Legislative Performance of Legislators Debate on this topic will focus on the questions of whether the opposition is in disarray. Why is there less vigor in the opposition’s oversight role and how to continue holding government to account? Moreover, the discussions will also interrogate the growing concern that nobody is left to offer checks and balances to possible government excesses with the civil society and the church, which would ordinarily step in to fill the void, also been accused of a feeble and inconsistent voice in the running of public affairs. Has Devolution Delivered on its Promise for Inclusive Development? A decade after this major governance decision, we seek to understand: is devolution working? Is it productive, effective and efficient in service delivery? Is it inclusive? Are the citizens more educated, informed about their rights and entitlement? Have checks and balances improved? Inclusion and Democracy The question remains, is Kenya’s democratic landscape appropriate in response to the country’s diverse populations? Why has it been so challenging to achieve optimal inclusion in public leadership as a fundamental democratic principle? Why are minority and marginalized struggling to access public leadership despite elaborate Constitutional provisions towards realizing this? Where does the buck stop? What opportunities does the BBI present to address this Constitutional deficit? What must be done? By who? By when? Discussants in this session will include citizens and practitioners in inclusive democracy drawn from both the public and private sector. International practitioners on inclusive governance will also participate in the forum as discussants.