The Commission on Administrative Justice is working with county governments to develop access to information acts that are unique to each of the 47 devolved units.
Commission Chairman Charles Orinda said the lack of Access to Information acts at the county level continues to hinder Kenyans from seeking information on critical issues pointing out the need for County Assemblies to address the gap.
Orinda said the commission was engaging county governments to offer technical support and build their capacity to develop the laws based on local circumstances to ensure that Kenyans have access to information on the various programs run by the devolved units. "At the national level we have the Access to Information Act but now we want the counties to adopt what we call specific access to information acts taking into consideration the local circumstances," he said.
This, he said, will empower citizens to make enquiries and put the county government to task on availing information on various issues as required by the law. "Not everybody can come to our offices in Nairobi to report that they requested for certain information from a county government and they have not been given.