20 August 2016 – The Republic of Kenya is about to make history by being the first APRM Member State to undertake the Second Generation Country Review Process. This important milestone was announced during the Consultative Mission to Kenya which took place from 19 to 20 August 2016.

“The APRM is the best Governance Review Mechanism in Africa as it is designed for Africa by Africans as such I pledge my full support and commitment to this tool. Kenya will therefore put up proper structures to ensure that we are fully prepared and ready for the Second Review Process.” said Kenyan President and Chairperson of the APR Forum, H.E Uhuru Kenyatta.

The APRM Second Review is a process that focuses on the extent to which the Country has implemented its National Programmes of Action that emanated from the first Review and also seeks to address issues that may have risen after the first Review.

Kenya has already completed its self-assessment which will be followed by a Support Mission in September 2016. The APRM Task Force will then be deployed to undertake the actual Country’ Second Review Process which will culminate in the President being reviewed by his peers during the January 2017 APRM Summit to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia The Mission Delegation which was led by Lead Panel Member in charge of Kenya Review process, Prof. Al-Amin Abu Manga and was accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer of the APRM, Prof. Eddy Maloka and other senior staff of the Secretariat presented President Uhuru with the road map for Kenya’s second review.

“The objectives of the Mission are to assess the preparedness of Kenya to embark on the second Review as well as to draw up a roadmap for the review of the Country, said Prof. Abu Manga.

The Mission Delegation further held meetings with the Focal Point of Kenya, Hon. Mwangi Kiunjuri and Members of the National Governing Council and agreed on the Road map for the second review of Kenya, which will lead to the presentation of the review Report at the APR Forum Summit of January 2017.

A Support Mission is to take place from 5th to 6th September 2016, paving way to the fielding of the Country Review Mission to Kenya in October 2016.

Kenya is “one of the pioneer countries” to accede to the APRM in March 2003 and to commence its implementation right away. When Kenya was peer-reviewed at the Banjul meeting of the APR Forum on 30 June 2006, it was the third country to do so – Ghana and Rwanda having taken the first and second positions, respectively.

The APRM Process

The APRM proceeds in five phases:
Phase 1 is a preparatory step at both the national and continental level. During this phase, the national Focal Point establishes the National Governance Commission (NGC) and the sensitisation and awareness campaign begins. Once these prerequisites are in place, the country commences the national self-assessment stage. During this stage, the country is also required to develop a Preliminary National Program of Action (NPoA) to address existing capacity constraints. On its part, the continental APR Secretariat compiles basic information on the country called the Background Paper that is used to augment, compare and contract with the national self-assessment that the country prepares. These three (3) documents namely (i) the self-assessment report on governance, (ii) the preliminary NPoA and (iii) the background paper constitute the basis key issues paper that will be prepared ahead of the country review mission.

The Country Review Mission marks Phase 2 of the process.

Phase 3 is the preparation of the country review report by the review mission that visits the country.

Phase 4 is the submission of the report of the country review mission to the continental APRM Secretariat and the APR Panel for deliberation and recommendations. The Panel submits the country review report and recommendations to the Forum of Heads of State for action. Phase 4 ends with Chairman of the Forum communicating the decisions of Heads of State and Government of the country under peer review.

Phase 5, which is the final stage of the APRM process, involves making public the country review report and actions relating thereto.