Influence of Devolution on Public Service Delivery: a Case of Samburu County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of devolution on public service delivery in Samburu County. The study was guided by three research questions namely: what is the influence of devolution on effective service delivery in Samburu County? What is the influence of devolved public services on effective service delivery in Samburu County? what is the influence of citizen participation on effective service delivery in Samburu County? and finally, what is the influence of self-governance on effective service delivery in Samburu County? This study used quantitative research methods, while the population constituted county executive, county assembly and village units. Two-step sampling technique was applied starting with stratified sampling followed by simple random sampling to identify the sample units. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. Data collected was analyzed to obtain both descriptive and inferential statistics. To test the significance of the influence the independent variables on the dependent variable, hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study show that devolution has significantly impacted effectiveness on service delivery in Samburu County (F(1, 102) = 81.384, p <.000), and that citizen participation significantly predicts effective public service delivery in Samburu County (F(1, 102) = 52.25, p <.000). Further, that a unit increase in citizen participation leads to an increase in effective selfgovernance as enshrined in the constitution has had positive influence on service delivery. It is inferred that devolution has continued to effectiveness in service delivery through self-governance by involving locals in service needs albert some deficiency in skills set and knowledge. The study recommends that devolution should be sustained and that the government of Samburu County should continue to involve the locals, while enhancing their skills in project management, planning and budgeting. In doing this, the county government should embrace decentralized planning approaches, while embracing public private partnership wherein all stakeholders that provide services to the county government are involved. This way all stakeholders will be obligated to be effective partners in the service delivery to the benefit all residents which will not only enhance effectiveness in service delivery but all efficiency in the delivery