Katiba Institute- KI Official

12/10/2026

Katiba Corner:

Article 43(1)(b) of the Constitution of Kenya guarantees to everyone the right to “accessible and adequate housing.” The Affordable Housing Act was enacted, ostensibly, to fulfil that promise.

The Act would be implemented through the allocation of public land for affordable and institutional housing schemes, and the process of building could also be carried out through private parties that had been contracted to do so.

Eligible persons – to be so determined through regulations – could then apply for, and be allocated, an affordable housing unit, which they would have to purchase through the payment of an agreed price (the Act also provided for loan schemes).

Read more: https://katibainstitute.org/the-court-of-appeals-affordable-housing-act-judgment-shows-the-limits-of-socio-economic-rights-enforcement/

12/10/2026

Elections:

Okiya Omtatah moves to court seeking to bar IEBC from changing security on ballot papers https://citizen.digital/article/okiya-omtatah-moves-to-court-seeking-to-bar-iebc-from-changing-security-on-ballot-papers-n391846

Citizen TV Kenya

Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has moved to court to stop the IEBC from making changes to security features on the ballot paper ahead of the 2027 General Election.

09/10/2026

𝐈 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰: 𝐎𝐦𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Katiba Institute welcomes two rulings by the Ombudsman Kenya, delivered on 8 October 2026, directing the Homa Bay County Government and County Assembly to disclose information on the construction of the new county headquarters.

The rulings follow the institutions’ failure to respond to KI’s information request of 12 March 2025, which sought details on project approvals, the lease-to-own financing arrangement with the County Pension Fund, financial obligations and implementation status.

The Commission reaffirmed the right of access to information under Article 35 of the Constitution and the Access to Information Act, 2016, clarifying that exempt information must be narrowly redacted rather than used to withhold entire records.

Public projects require transparency and accountability. The public deserves to know.

Read the full press statement:https://katibainstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PRESS-STATEMENT-Homabay-ATI-Ruling-09.10.2026.pdf

Henry Paul Gichana Beth Odek

08/10/2026

Today, we participated in the Public Finance Conference 2026, convened by Bajeti Hub under the theme “Financing What Matters: Reimagining a Resilient PFM System for Effective Service Delivery.”

Article 201 of the Constitution sets clear principles for public finance: openness, accountability, public participation, equity and responsible use of public money. For us, financing what matters means putting these principles into practice so decisions about public resources respond to people’s needs and support effective service delivery.

During the breakout session on “Major Transitions in Kenya’s Public Finance Management System,” Dr Henry Paul Gichana highlighted the need to protect ongoing public projects from leadership transitions. He called for clear rules and public consultation before projects are changed or discontinued, keeping communities’ needs at the centre of these decisions.

He also emphasised the need to clarify shared responsibilities between national and county governments, with IGRTC helping to address overlaps and funding reflecting the actual cost of devolved services. Parliament must strengthen its legislative and oversight action, including follow-through on Auditor-General findings.

In “Strengthening PFM to Withstand Persistent Pressures,” our Programmes Manager, Patriciah Joseph, stressed that strong laws alone cannot protect public money. They must be backed by effective oversight, enforcement and consequences for misuse.

She called for legislative oversight bodies at both levels of government to scrutinise spending and act on audit findings, alongside independent, adequately resourced oversight institutions. She also highlighted procurement transparency and timely, accessible budget information, which enable citizens to meaningfully influence decisions.

Crucially, she emphasised individual responsibility: when public funds are misused, those responsible should be held accountable.

Together, these contributions highlighted what effective service delivery demands: continuity in public projects, clear government responsibilities, meaningful citizen participation and accountability that leads to action. Leadership may change, but the obligation to deliver for communities remains.

07/10/2026

Access to information is only meaningful when the demand for information is matched by a timely and effective response.

This message was central to the National Policy Dialogue on Access to Information and Good Devolved Governance, where county representatives and institutions working on access to information shared progress, challenges, and practical lessons to strengthen access to public information.

In their opening remarks, representatives from Katiba Institute- KI Official, GIZ, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi and Council of Governors-Kenya emphasised the need for collective action to strengthen implementation. As demand for public information grows, responsive public institutions can help bridge the gap between citizens and government and build public trust.

Viola Ochola, Director of Access to Information at the Ombudsman Kenya, presented an overview of implementation across county governments, highlighting progress in meeting their obligations, remaining gaps and areas for improvement.

Our Programs Manager, Patriciah Joseph, shared lessons from our three-year Access to Information project in Nakuru, Samburu and Nairobi counties. In her remarks, she noted that the project helped citizens understand and exercise their rights, using information to address issues affecting their communities. While public officers were receptive, only 33% of information requests received responses. Political goodwill and decision-makers' commitment were identified as factors that may have affected the response rate.

The dialogue concluded with an interactive panel on institutional best practices and peer learning, with participants sharing experiences, examining approaches that have worked, and identifying practical ways to strengthen access to information systems, reinforcing the need to translate positive reception into consistent responses and to ensure citizens can obtain and use the information they need.

05/10/2026

Advancing Access to Information:

Katiba Institute, in partnership with the Council of Governors-Kenya, will hold a National Policy Dialogue on Access to Information and Good Devolved Governance later this week.

The dialogue forms part of our ongoing access to information project, which promotes good governance by strengthening citizens’ access to information and improving proactive disclosure of public information by government institutions.

It will bring together senior county government officials to exchange experiences and discuss practical approaches to strengthening transparency, accountability and meaningful citizen participation in county governance.



Ombudsman Kenya, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi, Media Council of Kenya

05/10/2026

Katiba Corner: Why the High Court declared sections of the PPP Act unconstitutional.

Public infrastructure and services are ordinarily financed from revenue collected nationally or from borrowed money (public debt) and delivered by the relevant government agencies.
https://the-star.co.ke/siasa/2026-10-04-gichana-why-high-court-declared-sections-of-the-ppp-act-unconstitutional



Henry Paul Gichana, People Daily

Public infrastructure and services are ordinarily financed from revenue collected nationally or from borrowed money (public debt).

30/09/2026

Katiba Institute at the African Symposium on Climate Reparations:

Katiba Institute is participating in the African Symposium on Climate Reparations, taking place from 30 September to 1 October 2026 in Mombasa.

The symposium brings together climate justice advocates, legal scholars, policymakers, Indigenous leaders, women’s rights advocates, civil society actors and young people to examine the growing call for climate reparations and its implications for Africa and Afro-descendant communities.

Climate change is increasingly recognised not only as an environmental crisis but also as a justice issue. African and Afro-descendant communities continue to experience severe climate impacts, including rising sea levels, extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, prolonged drought and displacement, despite the African continent contributing less than four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The symposium provides a space to examine how climate reparations can move beyond charity and technical assistance towards accountability, equity, repair and transformation for people, communities and ecosystems. Discussions are informed by evolving legal and policy frameworks, including advisory opinions of international and regional courts, the African Union Decade of Reparations (2026–2036), the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and emerging climate finance mechanisms.

For Katiba Institute, the discussions provide an important opportunity to engage with the legal and human rights dimensions of climate justice. The symposium's legal track examines State obligations, the right to a remedy, accountability mechanisms and the challenges of attributing responsibility for historical climate harm.

The symposium aims to generate actionable policy recommendations, contribute to the development of a Continental Climate Reparations Strategy and strengthen alliances across climate justice, biodiversity and community movements ahead of COP31 and COP32.

30/09/2026

Court Update: Cooperation Agreement between Nairobi City County and the National Government

Katiba Institute filed a petition at Milimani High Court to challenge the constitutionality of the Cooperation Agreement between Nairobi City County and the National Government, questioning whether the Agreement can be used to transfer or exercise county functions and commit public resources outside the procedures and safeguards provided for in the Constitution.

On 28 September 2026, the Court declined to suspend the Agreement but set conditions for its implementation. It directed that:
1. No county functions, powers, assets, staff or revenue should be transferred to or exercised by the National Government unless this is done in accordance with Article 187 of the Constitution.

2. No public funds should be committed, released or spent on projects under the Agreement unless authorised by Parliament or the Nairobi County Assembly or given to Nairobi County as additional allocations from the National Government under Article 202(2) of the Constitution.

3. The Nairobi Governor and Prime Cabinet Secretary should disclose the Agreement currently being implemented, projects undertaken and their funding sources, as well as minutes of the two committees established under the Agreement.

4. The Nairobi County Assembly should file its ad hoc committee report, records of public participation, and its consideration and approval of the Agreement.

The Court found that the petition raises serious constitutional questions that require a full hearing, scheduled for 18 February 2027.

Henry Paul Gichana

29/09/2026

Lamu locals sue over displacement ahead of refinery launch https://businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/lamu-locals-sue-over-displacement-ahead-of-refinery-launch-5612654

BUSINESS DAILY AFRICA

Lamu Port is emerging as an important alternative maritime gateway in East Africa, but inadequate roads linking it to regional markets continue to constrain its ability to compete with the...