Gundua info: New app lets Nakuru residents track projects in real time!

If you are a Nakuru resident, you might have attended public barazas where a leader took notes of a road or a borehole as your immediate priority as residents.

But after the speeches and applause faded, many are often left wondering, “What happened to the borehole they promised last year? Who is supposed to follow up?”

Now, a new app called Gundua Info will change all this.

As a Nakuru resident you now have the power to be the watchdog and track what is promised to you during public participation, its implementation time and money budgeted for the projects.

Through the app a resident has a digital weapon in the fight for transparency and accountability through, a project run by the Centre for Transformational Leadership (CTL).

In an Interview with Mtaa Wangu, Professor Gitile Naituli, Chair of the CTL Board, emphasizes that the importance of this app is to enable citizens to track real-life government projects, starting at the county level with hopes of scaling to the national level.

“This is a first of its kind in counties and Nakuru gets to be the first to have such. Gundua Info allows users including villagers, students, and civil society actors to access budgetary allocations and monitor whether promised projects are actually being implemented as planned,” he notes.

 This means that as a resident one can use this tool to check whether their proposals during public participation were taken into account, and how they are being implemented.

 Prof. Naituli says, “Citizens can audit public expenditure by comparing budget allocations to actual projects visible on the ground, like a bridge, or a health centre and assess whether funds have been used appropriately or diverted. This will deal with the issue of budgeted corruption, where money is allocated to non-existent projects.”

According to Bancy Kubutha, Executive Director at CTL, the app was developed with the vision that citizens would use the App as the Msema Kweli, when there are questions on what had been budgeted for and in turn is it being implemented.

 Kubutha further explained that Gundua Info is more than just a transparency tool, it’s a platform for data-driven citizen engagement.

 “Citizens can view what was prioritized during public participation, what was accepted by the County Assembly, and how it is being executed. This way, they can hold their elected leaders accountable based on facts, not hearsay,” she states

 Additionally, she notes the app currently covers the past three years of budget data, focusing on development expenditures that can be verified physically.

Through this, the app also seeks to close the gap in feedback mechanisms between citizens and county authorities.

“Going forward, CTL plans to analyze trends based on citizen feedback and publish citizen-driven implementation reports, comparing them with official county government reports. This will not only expose ghost projects, but also provide solid ground for advocacy and budget monitoring,” she notes

On the other hand, Alex Mbugua, MCA for Lake View Ward, Naivasha and Chairperson of the Nakuru County Budget and Appropriations Committee, hailed the app as a game-changer in public finance oversight.

“Each and every project funded in Nakuru County will now be visible and trackable within this app. The County Assembly will soon introduce a bill on Access to Information to work hand in hand with the app,” he says.