| dc.description.abstract | Measures to bring government ‘closer to the people’ through the process of decentralization has prompted shifts in approaches to service delivery that have widened the space for citizen involvement through participation. Yet, there appears to be a lag in efforts to make the disabled ready to participate in development issues particularly in Makueni County that has a significant mass of disabled people. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to establish the factors influencing persons with disability readiness to participate in development projects in Kenya with focus on Makueni County. It specifically sought to establish how infrastructure influences persons with disability readiness to participate; establish how education influences persons with disability readiness to participate; examine how technology influences persons with disability readiness to participate; and establish how resource availability influences persons with disability readiness to participate in development projects in Makueni County. Two theories, social model of disability and theory of planned behavior, were used to elucidate the main ideas and concepts of the present study. The research study employed the descriptive survey design. The study targeted the 356 management staff and heads of the departments working at the 10 departments within the County. It also targeted the 43 officials of the disability association in the county. Stratified Sampling was used to select 192 staff members and management while census technique was used to get the 43 officials of the disability association. Questionnaires were the data collection instruments. To establish reliability of research instruments, a pretest to test the reliability of instruments was done. To establish Validity of the instruments, the study supervisor and the experts in this subject area examined the content of the instruments. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in form of percentages, frequencies standard deviations and means. Linear regression model and Pearson correlation analyses were used to analyze data. The results show that: lack of infrastructure (β=.373, t=5.811, p<0.000), low level of education (β=.173, t=2.566, p<0.004), lack of technology, (β=.364, t=4.333, p<0.000), and resource unavailability, (β=.332, t=5.169, p<0.000), had a significant negative influence on disability readiness to participate in development projects in Makueni County. The study therefore recommends: The county government of Makueni should invest in disable supporting infrastructure like rumps, conducive staircases and other resources to ease persons with disability participation in development projects. This should be done in line with both the constitution and the supporting county policies geared to improve disable participation. The county government management should empower the disable with training opportunities and literacy classes to help them have the ability to understand development plans and projects. This will help the disable to conceptualize the issues better and have a meaningful participation in the county development projects. The should invest in disable supporting technology that would enhance both access and also ease persons with disability participation in development projects. This adoption of technology should be tied to training of the disabled on its usage. They should also allocate all necessary resources to enable person with disability participation in development projects. Such resources should include human, financial and physical resources that support disability inclusivity in county affairs. The government through the Ministry of Devolution and Planning should improve on its devolution policy to further fortify the disability participation in development plans. | en_US |
