Public Input and the Content of Kenya's Finance Bill, 2024: Procedural Legitimation or Substantive Accountability in Nairobi and Kisumu Counties?

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which public input influenced the final content of Kenya’s Finance Bill, 2024, in Nairobi and Kisumu Counties. Article 118 of the Constitution of Kenya (2010) requires Parliament to facilitate public participation in its legislative business, including the annual Finance Bill. However, whether this participation produces substantive influence over fiscal outcomes rather than procedural compliance remains unclear. The Finance Bill, 2024, tested this distinction through contested provisions, including the proposed housing levy, bread tax and financial derivatives levy, which underwent public participation before triggering widespread youth-led protests and the Bill’s withdrawal. Guided by Political Realism and Participatory Governance Theory, the study adopted a convergent parallel design combining a stratified survey of 140 adult citizens (111 Nairobi and 29 Kisumu) with 25 purposively selected key informant interviews. Quantitative data were analysed in SPSS Version 26.0 using descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha, and Pearson correlation, while qualitative data were analysed thematically. The findings indicate strong interrelationships among public awareness, participation mechanism quality and institutional confidence. However, perceived influence over the Bill’s content was statistically unrelated to these constructs and received the lowest rating. Moreover, 86.3 per cent of citizens who submitted formal views received no acknowledgement. The Bill’s most contested provisions were ultimately withdrawn following sustained public protests rather than through established parliamentary participation channels. The study concludes that Kenya’s fiscal participation framework currently functions more as procedural legitimation than substantive democratic accountability. It recommends a mandatory public participation response matrix, institutionalised feedback mechanisms and enforceable standards for participation design.