Growing Democracy: Kenyans Look to NCSL for Guidance.

• Author: Griffin, Kelley
• Position: National Conference of State Legislatures

A group of Kenyan legislative leaders has turned to NCSL and American state lawmakers for insights on how the country can grow into its relatively new constitution.

The group, representing the Center for Parliamentary Studies and Training and some members of the Kenyan Parliament, said the U.S. has a 400-year head start on Kenya's new constitution, established 10 years ago by popular vote. Kenya gained its independence from Britain in 1963, but the country was embroiled in violence and government corruption for decades. When the constitution was passed in 2010, it set the stage for a system similar to American democracy.

But voting it in and making it work are two different things.

"As we go along, we just want to appreciate that America, being a very old democracy, has done those functions for a long time," said Naomi Namsi Shaban, a member of the Kenya National Assembly and board chair for the center.

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The center was established to serve as a resource for members of Parliament and their staffs and has expanded to serve the county assemblies, which are roughly the equivalent of U.S. state legislatures. The center's leaders say that NCSL, as a nonpartisan resource for lawmakers, is a valuable role model for them.

The center's executive director, Nyokabi Kamau, says that while the organization offers trainings on how to be an effective lawmaker, she also wants it to emulate NCSL and become a "go-to in Kenya about what law is passing where... NCSL has so much data for the states."

During a recent four-day visit to NCSL, the delegation discussed state budgeting processes, citizen engagement, new-lawmaker orientation and how NCSL is structured to serve legislators and their staffs. The delegation also visited with lawmakers in Wyoming and Colorado.

Women in Office

While there are many aspects of state governments and NCSL's work that the group plans to apply back home, the Kenyan constitution has some unique differences. Notably, it requires that women hold at least one-third of the seats at the national level in the Senate and the Assembly.

Shaban said the requirement was added to the constitution "because we were not being elected. The women demanded it, and the men agreed. You cannot have a democracy if women are not at the table."

That has proven to be difficult to achieve: One report said that women seeking office have faced physical...