The document discusses using the internet to promote more women's engagement in public participation in Kenya. It notes that several bills and policies have been invalidated due to a lack of meaningful public participation. The internet could help address barriers that limit women's participation, such as a lack of access to information, digital skills and awareness of opportunities. The document recommends that the government work to expand internet access through community hotspots and partnerships. It also suggests using online tools to anonymize comments and translate discussions to reach more women and marginalized groups. Overall, recognizing internet access as a basic right could help enhance transparency and women's inclusion in decision making processes.

1. SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT EMBRACE THE INTERNET AS A
REVOLUTIONARY TOOL TO PROMOTE MORE WOMEN
ENGAGEMENT IN PUBLIC PARTICIPATION?
Time and again, we have witnessed the corridors of justice invalidating or declaring a bill,
legislation and policy as unconstitutional due to lack of reasonable and meaningful participation.
Some of the instances include; the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI Bill), The Contempt of Court
Act, 2016 and a number of the County Government legislations and policies being invalidated
for similar reasons. How then can we provide a solution to this problem?
What is Public Participation?
The participation of the people in decision-making through meaningful interaction between the
government, the citizens and/or civil society to contribute their concerns and ideas in the
policies, laws and bills set in parliament is widely and popularly referred to as Public
Participation. According to Article 10(2) (a) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the national
values and principles of governance include patriotism, national unity, sharing and devolution of
power, the rule of law, democracy and the participation of the people. Article 1 also states that

2. sovereign power belongs to the people. Article 118(1)(b) of the Constitution requires Parliament
to facilitate public participation and involvement in legislative and other business of the
Assembly and its committees. It further provides that Parliament conducts its business in an open
manner, and hold its sittings and those of committees in public.
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) in partnership with International Center for
Non-Profit Law (ICNL) held a consultative meeting to discuss access to the internet and its
impact on women's engagement in public participation. The meeting held on 23rd February
2023 covered the elements of public participation, what exactly amounts to meaningful public
participation, Internet Access, what meaningful connectivity means, barriers to access to the
internet, women public participation in the digital age, why women engagement is important,
how the internet can be used for public participation, the challenges in engaging in public
participation through the internet and lastly recommendations to the stakeholders involved; the
government, civil society organizations, technical community, academia and so much more.
It is evident that the internet is important in our day to day activities especially in the current
digital age. The COVID-19 pandemic played a huge role in accelerating the use of the internet
and technology as a tool for access to information, record-keeping, access and exposure to
diverse opportunities; financial social and economic, as a basic need in politics and engagement
to the people, digitization of government services and well as educational services. One is able to
access the internet via the technological gadgets; mobile phone, laptop, television and other
similar innovations with the mobile as the primary tool for internet access.
The Global System for Mobile Communication (GSMA) Mobile Gender-Gap Report 2022 stated
that, ‘Women tend to belong to the groups that are most likely to be unconnected, such as those
who are unemployed or have low literacy levels, and are also often affected by social norms
which make mobile ownership and use more difficult.’ Some of the barriers limiting internet
access thus contributing to the lack of access to information which is contrary to Article 35 of the
Constitution includes; lack of digital skills to navigate the digital space, low literacy levels in
cyber-security, lack of awareness of mobile internet and its benefits especially in the grassroots,
structural inequalities, discriminative social norms, language barriers, political will, electricity
and internet connectivity and lastly poor economic status as statistics proved that majority of the
women eventually sold their smart phones to cater for the economic needs during harsh
economic times thus the need for financial resources. Other women opined that they lack the
time to be physically present in public participation processes thus the internet can be an
effective tool for engagement as one is able to take part regardless of the circumstances.
Ignorance due to lack of proper education on how the lack of public participation can affect their
day to day life is a factor, this calls for more awareness and advocacy.
What amounts to reasonable and meaningful Public Participation?
The test of reasonable public participation and the given threshold is progressively being devised
through the courts decisions in various public interest cases involving the lack of public
participation or its inadequacy in the decision-making processes. The test in the courts is
objective with some of the requirements including; ‘that it should not matter how the

3. participation is effected, what counts is whether the public has been accorded some reasonable
level of participation.’ This was later developed in another case of similar structure where the
courts held that ‘what amounts to reasonable opportunity for public participation will depend on
the circumstances of each case. Subsequently, the Court of Appeal held that the idea of public
participation should include and be seen to include three aspects; dissemination of information
(to majority of Kenyans), invitation to participate in the process and consultation of the proposed
legislation. The highest court of the land in Kenya; Supreme Court also opined and delivered a
judgment on the BBI Case as the Chief Justice Martha Koome declared the Bill as
unconstitutional for lack of public participation on the Second Schedule of the Constitution of
Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020 (BBI Bill) containing the list of proposed additional
constituencies. However, several judges acknowledged that there is a lack of sufficient law on
public participation that would extensively define the criteria and nuances of public participation
in Kenya.
How can Internet Access promote Women Public Participation?
● The internet provides access to information, knowledge and learning at the comfort of
your home, work place and/or business environment thus encouraging better decision-
making and inclusion.
● It is an avenue for connectivity, communication and sharing through online forums and
platforms such as zoom meetings, webinars, twitter spaces which saves time and money
thus financially and economically more convenient.
● It provides anonymity and inclusivity as one is able to be anonymous which allows
people who're discriminated against in the real world to still have a voice regardless of
color, weight height, age, gender, etc by using anonymous tools to input once views. This
shall also promote more women engagement in public participation who fear for their
security in controversial matters and/or citizens who face intimidation due to social
norms.
● The Internet helps map and direct you to almost every place in the world thus one is able
to be present and contribute without having to be physically there.
● The Use of Surveys and polls can prove beneficial in public participation processes as it
is faster, easier and ensures a wider audience is able to participate in the public
participation forums.
● The use of broadcasting and media channels for early advertisement of public
participation forums and the reach out to wider audiences to cater for the short-notice
timelines for public participation thus promoting dissemination of information and
greater participation.
All these are not without its own challenges, to ensure more women engagement in public
participation through digital/internet channels there is need for access to internet and
connectivity. Other issues that may arise include; manipulation in data collection eg; polls and
surveys due to political reasons, influence and personal interests, digital illiteracy, controlled

4. spaces for public participations while using internet tools; zoom links, glitches, short-notices and
lastly manifestation of Online-gender based violence as physical injustices end up manifesting in
the online world.
The consultative meeting on the use of internet access to promote women engagement in public
participation by the Kenya ICT Action Network and International Centre for Non-Profit Law
concluded with various recommendations to the stakeholders involved such as; county
governments to come up with internet spaces and/or wifi hotspots at the ward levels where the
grassroots communities can access the internet and get involved in public participation. This
shall cater for distance challenges and internet accessibility while promoting inclusivity. The
government to have a working relationship with administrative offices eg’ chiefs office towards
effecting public participation and educating the masses through facilitating learning and
understanding to ensure the public makes informed decisions and are involved every step of the
way.
The government to partner with reliable civil society organization to disseminate functions/
projects effectively. The use of Anonymisation tools when submitting views during public
participation forums by the government and/or civil society organizations to prevent or reduce
online gender-based violence, promote security and provide a safe space for public participation
for all stakeholders. The Technical Community can come up with such innovations as well
where one can share their comments anonymously and be part of the decision-making processes,
Capacity-building in the grassroots communities to build digital skills and understanding of
digital tools for use of the internet in public participation, Internet service providers to employ
language translation tools in mother tongue and/or government agencies set to have language
translators in the internet/physical public participation processes to ensure effective and informed
forums, Employment and building of more internet public participation spaces; this shall also
enable more youth to take part in the digital economy, the government to ensure efficient
connectivity and electricity sources to promote internet access thus public participation, the civil
society organizations to promote advocacy and awareness not only in grassroots but in every
region where public participation is to take place and/or in the digital world while empowering
them with the necessary digital skills and tools for public participation.
In conclusion, for the use of internet and internet access in promoting more women engagement
in public participation there is need of underlying aspects involving transparency, accountability
and audit in digitization projects to ensure implementation of the above recommendations and
promote action-oriented processes. The Internet is increasingly becoming a basic need for
example in politics so as to engage with the youth masses, in our economy such as online
businesses and financial opportunities, as a basic tool for information and in service delivery as
the government sets to digitize its services. It is therefore crucial for the internet to be viewed as
a public good and not commodity and most importantly an avenue for more women engagement
in public participation.
~Digital Rights are Human Rights, Human rights are Women Rights~
Linda Gichohi|Legal Fellow at KICTANet.