The Place of Digital Tools in Enabling Kenya's Democracy

Over the last couple of years, the digital space has been a consistent topic of discussion. Most of those discussions have analysed the importance of digital tools in promoting communities’ participation in political processes. Often, the discussions result in weighing if digital tools are enablers or disablers of democratic governance. 

In Kenya, there has been a widening disconnection related to decisions made by political class for the citizens, as epitomized by June 2024 and 2025 protests^[1]. Mzalendo Trust’s work endeavours to inculcate thought leadership through developing knowledge and evidenced based research^[2]. These research products enable the organization to contextualize policy issues, as it continues to monitor and amplify processes, debates and decisions made in parliament, while tracking promises delivered. 

To this end, Mzalendo Trust went on to conduct a research study^[3] on “the Impact of Digital Tools on Political Participation of Marginalized Communities”. The objective of the research was to find out; if digital tools enhance participation of communities in Kenya, while assessing their level of influence, identifying existing barriers and exclusions, and finally, proposing recommendable actions to improve digital inclusivity. 

The study found that digital tools have created new pathways for civic engagement among various marginalized groups, especially the “educated” “urban” “youth” have leveraged on digital platforms for activism and public debate. 

However, digital participation is neither widespread nor equitable. Persistent barriers such as limited digital literacy, poor infrastructure, high data costs, gender-based harassment, and low trust, continue to entrench structural inequalities. Persons with disabilities, rural populations, and less-educated citizens remain disproportionately excluded despite formal commitments to inclusion. 

The goal is to make civic participation a right for all, not a privilege for a few. This requires creating multilingual, community-driven, and co-created solutions. Success depends on targeted investment, legislative reform, and collaborative efforts from the government, civil society, technology designers, and the communities themselves.

In correlation to the study, Mzalendo Trust participated in a recent meeting organized by the Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (KARA), who were releasing a policy brief on “Digital Space Protection in Kenya: Policy Gap Analysis” in conjunction with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Netherlands Embassy. Subsequent discussions resulted in advocating for development of County Public Participation Guidelines to enhance digital participation; while attempting to respond to the query if the digital space has been an enabler or disabler. 

Henry Ochieng, the Executive Director of KARA emphasized that “digital platforms enable meaningful engagement for marginalized communities through enabling transparency, inclusivity and efficiency.” Conversely, Beatrice Gathoni from UNDP noted the lack of a comprehensive national legislation on public participation presented a hindrance, as various government structures adopt conflicting approaches. She further noted that “a related bill in Parliament, collated from the different versions and approaches has been developed by a working group from the Attorney General Office, could offer a solution”. 

Irine Ogambo from the Council of Governors (COG) announced that “for the last 15 years, devolution has been the hallmark of democracy in Kenya”. Enshrined in Article 174 (c) as well as within the 14th function of Part 2 of the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, devolution has “empowered communities to participate in their governance”. Section 91 (a) of the County Governments Act additionally provides modalities and platforms for citizen engagement prioritizing Information Communication Technology (ICT) platforms. 

She noted that while there is lack of a comprehensive public participation guidelines, most county governments have attempted to develop frameworks for the same, and her institution is currently advocating for county departments and officials with the mandate of public participation from across the nation, to be convened to discuss challenges, document achievements, develop comparisons including leveraging on best practises from external jurisdictions, to inform the review and updating of new public participation guidelines. 

Digital spaces and tools have offered educated, urban and youthful communities in Kenya the opportunity to participate in political processes and advance agendas. However, the less educated, people living with disability, older generations, and rural communities have been noted as less active on digital platforms. 

Mzalendo’s study recommends that County Governments should fast track the  operationalization of the National Digital Masterplan (2022-2032) and establish “village” digital hubs and digital safety and literacy programs. In addition, civic tech and digital tools developers should incorporate disability, multilingual and feedback interfaces as well as features that detect harassment.

As for CSOs, continuous monitoring, awareness raising and digital advocacy for safer spaces is required. Internet Providers and Tech companies should be encouraged to invest in subsidizing internet services and devices for marginalized communities, whilst building better rural connectivity infrastructure . 

At the national level, while there is a robust number of legislative frameworks, there is a need to harmonize such policy efforts so as to standardize public participation approaches across the country, thus entrenching equality, inclusion, consistency, transparency, and awareness. 

Once executed, such measures will reinforce the position of digital tools as a paramount enabler of political participation of all communities in Kenya, and thus a key component in achievement of modern day democracy. 

Posted by Loise Mwakamba on Sept. 26, 2025

Categories:  democracy   digital tools