By Sally Akinyi and Mumbi Mugo
Published June 23, 2021
COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage countries socially and economically, with public health systems on the brink of collapse and job losses rivaling the Great Depression.
In lower middle-income countries, support from multilateral institutions, governments and UN agencies has been massive. Kenya, for instance, received US$2 billion in grants to strengthen its fight against COVID-19 and over a million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine from the COVAX facility.
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However, the scourge of corruption has also been quick to respond – crippling the very social and economic relief support systems deployed to counter the effects of the pandemic. The lack of protective gear and equipment causing doctors to strike in Kenya, and a US$420 million corruption scandal involving the state corporation Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA), are a few examples of how deep-rooted corruption has hampered the COVID-19 response.
So even as Kenya puts its best foot forward to fight the pandemic, the lack of openness, transparency and accountability in its efforts must be addressed and remedied.
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A survey commissioned in Kenya by Hivos in 2020 to gauge the perceptions of stakeholders on the use of COVID-19 data provided by the government revealed gaps in openness of data and raised red flags on the lack of transparency in public finance, budget allocation, source of funds, and resource allocation. This is a result of Kenya’s entrenched culture of secrecy that still prevents proactive disclosure of actionable information that can be used by citizens to demand accountability.
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As Kenya aims to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Open Government approaches regarding public and civic participation should be intensified to ensure all COVID-19 recovery efforts build public trust, reach all citizens regardless of location, and minimise risks of corruption.
Secondly, there has been a lack of collaboration between the government and civil society in access to and translation of data. This can be remedied by fostering a political will and culture that increases dialogue and allows input in policy making.
Thirdly, to promote transparency the government should proactively disclose public information relating to budgets, allocations, disbursements and expenditure of COVID-19 funds and aid. This includes complying with Access to Information requests as outlined in by the constitution and the Access to Information Act of 2016.
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The relevant authorities should fast-track their efforts to investigate suspected cases of procurement violations at the national and county levels, bring to book the individuals involved, and recover any resources stolen in the process.
Key government agencies that purchase medical goods and services for the containment of COVID-19 should adopt the Open Data Contracting Standards. This will enforce compliance with Executive Order 2 of 2018 that requires all procurement data to be published on the Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP), including names of companies and individuals awarded COVID-19-related contracts.
Lastly, in light of Kenya’s current vaccine shortage, the government must use an open government approach in its subsequent vaccine rollouts to ensure equity and efficiency. This means clamping down on all corruption, using open data in vaccination programmes and making sure marginalised groups are a priority.
This is an edited article from hivos.org