Margaret Maimba, NACOSTI presents at Wangari Maathai Institute on November 3, 2019
NACOSTI Chief Science Analyst Margaret Maimba shared insights on the role of NACOSTI in formulation and implementation of public policies with staff, students, policy experts and practitioners at the Wangari Maathai Institute on Wednesday November 13, 2019.
She started by highlighting the lack of proper definition of public policy and the existence of policies in many forms such as written statements, oral or even presidential decrees. The NACOSTI science Analyst elaborated the stages of policy formulation as initiation, research, negotiations and public participation, drafting, cabinet approval, parliamentary approval, ascent by the president/governor and finally publication. She underscored that policy formulation is not a preserve of a few people but can originate from any person and brought to the attention of the relevant institution. She noted that the constitution offers the foundations for the involvement of all persons in decision making through the principle of public participation in policy formulation.
She urged researchers to play their role in policy formulation by providing evidence-based information to policy makers which enriches policy formulation. Students were encouraged to write policy briefs for their theses as the best way to communicate their research findings to policy makers. Among the roles of NACOSTI include accrediting research institutions and linking with researchers and academic institutions to provide evidence-based policy advice to the government. She concluded by noting that duplication of roles, bureaucracies in administration and donor influence are among the challenges facing policy formulation and implementation in Kenya.
Prof. Nzioka J. Muthama, deputy director, WMI, moderated the discussion where participants including Prof. David Mungai, Director, WMI took turns to react to the presentation by Margaret Maimba. Accreditation of research institutions, acquisition of research permits, lobbying during policy formulation and preservation of scientific knowledge were discussed at length.