People’s Audit – From hustle to hardship
Office of the Citizen is the logical evolution of years’-long efforts of the Okoa Uchumi Campaign, a citizen-led civil society initiative founded in 2019 to champion transparency and accountability in fiscal governance in Kenya.
The Okoa Uchumi Campaign is a citizen and civil society initiative that has, since 2019, advocated the prudent use of public resources. This was born out of a realisation that by 2019, Kenya was on a precarious path towards a debt trap. Over the years, we have engaged various actors — including National Treasury officials, the Council of Governors, Members of Parliament, presidential candidates in elections, including President William Ruto, and Kenyan taxpayers. We have realised that the state of Kenya’s economy and public finance is not a product of the lack of institutions, laws or even skilled people; it comes from failure of the political class to pledge fidelity to the Constitution of Kenya and put the people first through all public finance processes.
Over the years, we have reiterated that Kenya does not have a revenue problem; it has an expenditure problem, which is well illustrated by state opulence, wastage, and, at times, outright theft of public resources. As such, we know that the story of Kenya’s economy is not written in spreadsheets or policy briefs. It is etched in the struggles of citizens crushed by debt, rising taxes, stolen resources, and a political system that has betrayed its people. This People’s Audit of economic misgovernance is our act of resistance and truth-telling in the face of state capture and impunity.
