Chinese Funded Projects and Open Governance in Kenya

Abstract

This article examines how Kenyan civil society uses open governance to call for government accountability around debt acquisition from China. Through two case studies, I illustrate how strategic litigation has become a framework through which civil society exercises leadership from below in the face of constrained parliamentary scrutiny. Rather than a one-sided conversation about “China in Africa”, these case studies show that open governance serves a dual role of holding the Kenyan government accountable to its citizens, whilst critiquing the debt acquisition infrastructure of the Chinese government.