Author: Open Institute

Programme Manager of Ability programme, Crystal Asige has been nominated to the Senate.

Congratulations, Senator Crystal Asige

Image Credit Crystal Asige, our Ability Programme’s lead, has officially been gazetted as a Senator – representing persons living with disabilities in the Kenya Senate.

Through the lens of a woman film-maker at OI

I am told, I am the first woman to get inside a gold mine in Vihiga county, Kenya. In many parts of the world, women are not allowed to go anywhere near a mine because it’s believed that mining sites are men’s territories, so women are responsible for removing gold from the soil after the actual mining process. Women are kept away from the mine shafts; dark, dusty, claustrophobia-inducing holes that usually go almost a Kilometre into the earth. “It is not safe for a woman to go down there. It is just not done.”

Data protection and open government – are these compatible tenets in the Kenyan context?

Open government is an inclusive and participatory approach to governance that allows citizens to be involved in the formulation and eventual implementation of public policies, and has been recognized as a catalyst for democracy and inclusivity in sustainable growth. Government is open when it follows the principles of transparency, accountability and participation; key initiatives include open data, public participation, open contracting, open parliament, among others.