Influence Of Donor Funding On Project Implementation: A Case Of Healthcare Projects In Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

In order to meet the funding shortfalls in the budget, governments across the world and in Kenya rely on funding from donors. The donors include private individuals, private companies, faith-based organisations, governments, non-governmental agencies. However, research has shown that donor-funded projects often remain incomplete. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of donor funding on the implementation of healthcare projects in Machakos County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to determine the influence of financial regulations, project administration regulations, risk management regulations, and reporting regulations on the time taken to complete projects, the quality of projects, and the cost of projects. The study focused on projects undertaken during the period 2014-2017. The study was anchored on the Agency Theory, Efficiency Theory, and Resource-Based View Theory. The study focused on the 65 donor-funded projects undertaken in the county. The study utilized census sampling approach where the 65 project managers constituted the sample size .The data using a questionnaires. The findings were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that financial regulations, project administration regulations, risk management regulations, reporting regulations and government procurement procedures had a positive and significant influence on the implementation of healthcare projects in Machakos County, Kenya as implied by beta coefficients of 0.647, 0.502, 0.967, 0.510 and 0.575 significance values of 0.008, 0.007, 0.000, 0.000 and 0.009 respectively. The influence of financial regulations, project administration regulations, and reporting regulations increased while the effect of risk management regulations reduced. The study concluded that the donor funding terms and conditions enabled the successful implementation of healthcare projects in Machakos County, Kenya. The study recommends that the donor and the government review their terms and conditions, and procedures to make them easier to understand and to comply with. The study recommends that the county government of Machakos should develop frameworks to ensure that all the donor funding terms and conditions are strictly complied with