By Dinnah Ondari
Policies are a critical tool through which government institutions actualise development strategies and plans towards national development. This underlines the importance of capacity building programmes that promote good governance practice among public officers.
One of the basic criticisms that public offices face is the perceived inability to formulate and roll out policies that reflect the priorities of those we serve and therefore failing to respond to their developmental needs and challenges through identification of priorities and resources allocation/management.
I am lucky to have recently attended a two-week training on Public Policy Making Process for Public Officers, thanks to a collaboration between the Strathmore Business School, USAID and Global Communities covered various aspects of policy making that enhance the quality of policies.
The online programme brought together 35 senior officials from various county governments as well as other non- state actors whose role is critical in policy framing processes and agenda setting.
I am confident that by completing this course, I am going to become part of the solution to the policy challenges we face in Kenya, given the learnings I acquired from the experiences from my counterparts.
Given our central role in contributing to policy issues, the Media Council of Kenya sponsored the training of three senior managers who graduated with certificates namely. The Director Media Training and Development Mr Victor Bwire, Assistant Director Media Training and Curriculum Development Ms Christine Nguku and yours truly carried the MCK flag at the training.
Our modest virtual graduation ceremony was graced by our Chief Executive Officer Mr David Omwoyo who called upon county governments to ensure there is public participation in all policy making processes as a way of ensuring that policy actions respond to citizens’ needs.
The CEO noted that one way of creating positive and lasting impact on the lives of Kenyans is to ensure that policies reflect the real issues that affect them.
“Global and National development instruments such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Vision 2030 have ensured that there are clear guidelines on development issues that must be addressed for national development. As policy makers we should always strive to align our priorities with those of the people we serve”, said Mr Omwoyo.
He encouraged the course organisers to carry out similar trainings across the 47 counties in order to increase the pool of knowledge around effective and efficient policy making in the interest of national development.
The writer is the Manager, Press Freedom, Safety and Advocacy at the Media Council of Kenya.