Service Delivery, Public Participation, Human Resource Capacity and Revenue Mobilization in the Budget Preparation Process Among County Governments in Kenya (a Case Study of Elgeyo Marakwet County Government)

Abstract

The promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya on 27 August 2010 was a clear way of ensuring that the devolved governance system is realized. In this case, the constitution in Chapter Eleven (Cap 11) states the provisions on how to come up with a fully constituted county government. In the process transiting from the national government to the county governments, the county governments took over the projects, records, the staff and the offices that were previously used by the provincial and district officers (GoK, 2013). This development replaced the local authorities in the provision of services such as water, sewerage and drainage facilities, housing, street lighting, firefighting services, markets, estate roads, basic education and public health among others. Local Authorities (LAs) were however, unable to efficiently provide these services to citizens living within their jurisdiction. This had been credited to several factors including, inadequate financial resources, lack of trained human resource, political interference and bureaucracy. The fulfillment of these functions by devolved units, now called County Governments mainly depends on governance on one hand and adequacy of financial resources at their disposal on the other hand. Issues of finance management at county levels consist essentially of two fundamental aspects, namely the raising of adequate revenue and the expenditure of the revenue received/ raised. However, real and lasting improvement will occur if and or when Counties fully involve their residents in decision about how resources are generated and used, and are accountable as guided by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMAs).