President William Ruto has launched consultations for Kenya’s inaugural State of Openness Report, a new national assessment intended to measure transparency, accountability and access to information across public institutions.
The consultations, launched at State House in Nairobi, mark the beginning of the process of compiling the country’s first report on the state of open governance. The exercise will be led by the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ), also known as the Office of the Ombudsman, in collaboration with ministries, State agencies, constitutional commissions, county governments and other stakeholders.
The report is expected to provide a baseline for evaluating how public institutions uphold openness, public participation and accountability, while identifying areas requiring governance reforms.
Speaking during the launch, President Ruto said openness should become a core standard of public administration rather than an optional practice.
“Open governance is no longer a bureaucratic luxury or an optional add-on for our ministries. It is now a core pillar of effective leadership and responsive public service,” the President said.
Ruto directed all public institutions to cooperate fully with the exercise by providing the information required for the assessment.
“I direct every ministry, department, agency, constitutional commission and county government to extend their full cooperation to the Commission on Administrative Justice by providing timely, accurate and comprehensive information throughout this exercise,” he said.
The State of Openness Report is expected to examine key indicators of governance, including public access to information, transparency in decision-making, citizen participation, institutional accountability and the responsiveness of public bodies to the people they serve.
According to the Commission on Administrative Justice, the report is intended to establish an evidence-based framework for monitoring openness across government institutions and tracking progress over time.
The initiative forms part of Kenya’s commitments under the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a global platform that encourages governments to strengthen transparency, fight corruption, improve accountability and increase citizen participation in public affairs.
By establishing measurable indicators, the report is expected to help policymakers identify institutional strengths and gaps while providing the public with an objective picture of how government agencies perform on openness and accountability.
Unlike financial audits, the State of Openness Report will focus on governance practices, assessing how effectively public institutions share information, engage citizens, respond to requests for information and uphold constitutional principles on transparency.
The Commission on Administrative Justice will coordinate consultations with public institutions and other stakeholders before collecting data and preparing the inaugural report. Once completed, the report is expected to serve as a national benchmark for openness in government and provide recommendations aimed at improving transparency, accountability and service delivery across the public sector.
The launch represents the first formal step toward producing Kenya’s inaugural State of Openness Report, a document the government says will support better governance by measuring how public institutions meet their obligations to citizens through openness and accountability.