A concept for a study of ethnic patterns of access to major public contracts and tenders in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia

Whilst countries in Africa have made great stride in embracing democratic and open societies, there is significant regression in the governance and accountability processes in many of the countries.

Politics and decision making in public life have been increasingly monetized and made very expensive. To be an active participant in political processes and public decision making, one has to have the economic means to settle basic livelihood priorities, which can be a big distraction to paying attention tom political and other public life processes, and also have the means to reach out, network and engage. Most young people desirous of playing an active role in political processes and public decision making do not have the requisite financial means and thus fail to get their voices heard on issues of interest and priority to them.

Political processes and public decision making determine what societies, nations, governments, and communities prioritize. Issues that matter to young people, like employment, entrepreneurship, education and skills development, human rights, social justice and governance, health and social life, hardly be prioritized with the right detail unless young people are active participants where negotiations, prioritization and decisions are being made. They will not make it to these spaces unless they have the economic means to facilitate their access to relevant information, contact persons, networks and groupings and the relevant forums. They will not have the economic means unless they have access to opportunities to make reasonable income that builds these means.

Proposed action

InformAction proposes to carry out an action in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia, towards establishing the degree of systemic hurdles and enablers for to public contracts and tenders for young people from different ethnic backgrounds. This action is informed by the fact that exclusion from economic opportunities, especially in relation to doing business with governments, often takes an ethnic and social class pattern. InformAction proposes that the action be limited only to finding out the patterns of relationship between young people’s ethnic identity and access to opportunities for doing business in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia, with a view to establishing to what extend the prevailing situation may be excluding young people with certain identities from participating in
democracy and political processes.

The proposed action will be in form of a study, which will be useful in providing the necessary baseline statistics, establishing the nature, level and manifestation of ethnic patterns of access to public contracts and tender by youth based on their ethnic identities. There is need to identifying patterns of ethnic manifestation, existing policy frameworks, legislation, challenges, and opportunities.

Objectives

The overall objective of the study is to establish the nature, level and manifestation of patterns of access to public contracts and tenders by people in the Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia in relation to their identities; ethnicity, age etc.

Specific Objective:

**To determine the levels and patterns of access to public contracts and tenders by people in the Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia based on ethnic identity. These may include public contracts, security, financing, job opportunities, recognition, etc.

1. To identify manifestation of ethnic patterns and exclusion of youth in access to public contracts and tenders by young people in the Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The study should audit the relationships between holders of public good procurement awards and those in political power. It should also audit;
   -the rules of procedure, composition, and influences of panels and commissions that
   recruit individuals into structures of state
   -proceeding that culminated in actual appointments
   -decisions, commissions, and omission of those appointed into critical positions
   -the victims and beneficiaries of the impacts of financial, security, budgets, employment,
   policy and other decisions of appointees
   -the state (effectiveness, capabilities and capacities) of institutions impacted by deep
   state machinations
2. To identify existing linkages between economic opportunities arising from doing business with government and participation in political processes and public decision making
3. To establish systemic opportunities and challenges in relations access to public contracts and tenders by youth in the Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
4. To make recommendations that may inform the institutionalization of inclusive democracies for young people in the 4 countries. **

Scope

The analysis shall include, but not restricted to

1. The Executive: Appointment to strategic senior public service positions and decisions made over the last 5 years. It shall analyse the link between these appointments and private interests
2. Public Contracting: Ownership and directorship in public contracting companies in the leading public expenditure sectors including health, national security, education, energy, housing and infrastructure. It shall analyse the relationships and influence over democratic processes including electoral financing, and influence over legislature, executive and judiciary.

The study shall cover;

1. Kenya
2. Uganda
3. Ethiopia
4. South- Sudan

Each consultant is to cover one country only, In addition to writing a country report, the lead consultant shall coordinate the research process and consolidate the country reports into a regional report.

The Kenyan consultant shall double up as an in- country researcher as well as the lead consultant.

Specific tasks
The specific tasks required to realize the specific objective of the consultancy are the following:

• Elaborate and submit an inception report, including a work plan and budget
• Undertake a comprehensive literature review of the relevant history, reports, policies and recommendations of various national experts and specialist institutions, and thereby consolidate existing national knowledge on deep state and its political economy
• Design and implementation of empirical research at national level, including identification and supervision of various resource person and expert inputs,
• Develop and implement effective methodologies and tools to ensure all necessary information and knowledge is captured and analysed,
• Plan, implement and coordinate inclusive consultation of representatives of the main relevant stakeholder groups in the selected countries including executive, parliamentary committees, politicians, private sector, citizens, respective oversight authorities, security apparatus, governance experts and local governments among others;
• Support national level consultations on the inception report, methodologies and tools, draft reports and recommendations, and
• To draft an MS PowerPoint presentation, to be included with the Final Report, that will describe the aims, methodology, and main results that may be used in a Governance Forum.

Methodology

The analysis is expected to among to apply both primary and secondary data collection.
Proposals relating to the modalities of data collection and analysis will be put forward for review and
approval in the Inception Report

Work plan

An indicative work plan will be put forward for review and approval in the Inception Report. The
indicative work plan will include the following information:

1. Main activities to be carried out,
2. Tentative dates (by week),
3. Tentative locations,
4. Expected outputs,
5. Comments.
   It is expected that the Consultant will seek approval from local partners for eventual on-site field visits.

Deliverables

The main deliverables to be provided by the consultant are:

1. Inception Report incl. work plan,
2. Minutes of key meetings,
3. Draft Final Report,
4. Final Report including PowerPoint presentation.

All reports will be submitted in English and in digital form, preferably in MS Word and/or PowerPoint
format.

Duration and timing

The consultancy is to be undertaken during the period September- November 2020.

Coordination

Inform Action will coordinate the planning and execution of the consultancy. Inform Action shall
convene a technical reference group.

Desirable qualifications and experience

The responsible consultant is expected to work with a high degree of independence coupled with
proactive planning and a collaborative approach for the involvement of all key stakeholders.
In addition, the following qualifications and experience are desired:

1. The consultant must have obtained at least a university degree in Security Studies, law, Political Science, Social Affairs or Public Administration or related subjects,
2. At least 15 years of experience in democracy, economics, governance and/or political Science; experience in economic governance would be an advantage,
3. Experience in applying statistical models and analysing data from a variety of sources,
4. Experience in developing reliable data-gathering tools,
5. Written and oral proficiency in English is required; working knowledge of French will be an advantage.
6. Experience in working in regional and international contexts gathering and analysing data from a wide range of sources and agencies will be an asset.
7. Knowledge of the African Union and its governance arrangements will be an advantage.

Remuneration

The lead consultant shall be paid a lump sum of $ 12,000
The country consultants shall be paid a lump sum of $5,000

All costs for travel and meetings that pertain to this research shall be covered under the travels and
meetings budget lines of the project.