In our 2025-2029 strategy ‘Making Institutions Serve The People of Busia’, ABEDEV plays a crucial role in addressing the poverty and weak governance institutions in Busia County. We recognize that Busia County is one of the poorest counties in Kenya, with most of its Human Development Indices (HDIs) falling below the national average. The poverty is largely due to the weak performance of governance institutions in the County.

In response, ABEDEV proposes to engage in efforts to create sustained citizen-led pressure that will influence the County Government and other related institutions to be more efficient and effective, ultimately improving the lives of the majority of residents in Busia County.

We propose to do so through three main interventions, namely civic empowerment of ordinary residents of Busia, mobilization of the residents to participate in county decision-making processes and the deployment of citizen-driven accountability. Under civic empowerment, we propose to improve the civic competence of Busia residents to overcome factors that encourage poor governance in Busia County. Under citizen involvement in government decision-making, we seek to promote citizen participation in County Government’s decision-making processes. Under citizen-led accountability, we seek to facilitate citizen-driven accountability of the County Government and its institutions in Busia to promote the Government’s optimal performance.