The appropriation of Karura forest, a public forest that was secretly allocated to individuals without due process involving public comment or information, has highlighted the extent to which civil society, in concert with opposition politicians, continues to insist on transparency and to demand corrective action from the government. CSOs condemned the practice of allocating Karura forest, demanded action from the government, invaded a development site at the forest and dominated the newspaper headlines for several weeks. As a result, development of a housing estate was stopped. Some of these events are unprecedented in Kenyan politics like the two momentous parliamentary non-confidence motions submitted for discussion against President Moi in 1998 and 1999, which underscored the vulnerability of the incumbent government and provided an opportunity to further expose its failings. Formation of this coalition attest to CSOs' readiness to respond to critical events and readiness to press appropriate demands for reforms.
Women remain largely excluded from mainstream public institutions.
If the Act authorizing it is fully implemented, and the Commission itself takes its mandate seriously, the National Assembly could achieve meaningful independence from the executive for the first time in Kenya's history. This could allow it to play a meaningful government oversight role while giving MPs in all parties more influence over the course of events during the transition period. Our underlying assumption here is that a more powerful legislature will not only serve to check Executive power, but will also attract much more input from the public in terms of both specific interest groups and individual citizens. Civil society has now become a key player in national politics. Central here is the creation of an independent Parliamentary Service Commission, described above, as well as the more energetic performance of particular parliamentary committees.