By WMW
The Jamii Imara Mashinani (JIM) initiative over the weekend marked a new milestone in its nationwide grassroots engagement campaign with a successful citizen forum in Nyamira County, reaffirming government’s commitment to people-centred development and participatory governance.
Moderated by the Principal Secretary for Public Health and Professional Standards, Ms. Mary Muthoni, the Nyamira forum brought together residents, national government officials and county leaders in an open platform designed to amplify the voice of wananchi in shaping public policy and service delivery.
Jamii Imara Mashinani is a structured citizen engagement programme aimed at deepening public participation by creating direct channels through which citizens can raise concerns, propose solutions and track responses from government institutions.
It’s members are senior government officials who includes; Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, CEOs, Board chairpersons, members and directors.
The initiative is part of the government’s broader agenda to strengthen transparency, accountability and trust between the state and the people.
Speaking during the forum, Ms. Muthoni underscored the centrality of listening to citizens in achieving sustainable development.
“Listening to wananchi remains at the heart of our work. Sustainable development can only be achieved when government programmes are shaped by the real needs and lived experiences of the people,” she said.
She noted that the Nyamira engagement forms part of an ongoing series of Jamii Imara Mashinani forums being rolled out across the country to ensure development initiatives are driven by grassroots priorities rather than top-down assumptions.
The Nyamira forum was the eighth under the JIM programme and the first to be held outside the Mt Kenya region, signaling an expansion of the initiative into new regions as it gathers momentum nationwide.
The delegation was led by Ms. Muthoni alongside Head of Secretariat Ms. Winnie Ngumi who is the KeNHA chairperson.
Dozens of the caucus members from various government agencies and senior officials from key parastatals attended the two day eventhe.
The engagement began with a courtesy call in Kisii County, where the team met the Kisii County Commissioner, Mr. Chaunga Mwachaunga. The delegation later paid a visit to the Motonto residence of Kisii Governor, Simba Arati.
During the meeting with Governor Arati, the JIM team briefed him on the role of Jamii Imara Mashinani in advancing the government’s development agenda. Discussions focused on how different government entities can better coordinate to translate national policies into tangible services for communities.
Leaders present agreed that coordinated planning, timely information sharing and meaningful citizen engagement are critical to ensuring government interventions are effective and responsive to local needs.
“The success of development programmes depends on how well institutions work together and how genuinely we involve citizens in identifying priorities and monitoring progress,” one official noted during the deliberations.
The delegation later held a media engagement to brief the public on the objectives and outcomes of the forum, followed by a dinner hosted at the residence of former Kisii Governor Jared Ongwae.
Through Jamii Imara Mashinani, the government aims to institutionalise citizen participation beyond formal public hearings, making engagement continuous, structured and outcome-oriented.
The initiative seeks to rebuild public confidence by ensuring that feedback from citizens directly informs policy adjustments and service delivery.
Jerameel Kevins Owuor Odhiambo