Community participation in infrastructure development: a case of Nyanza roads 2000 project in Gucha district
Abstract
The broad objective of the study was to establish various ways In which the
communities in Gucha District participate in identifying road infrastructure
development and maintenance for sustained development under the new Roads 2000
strategy. The study further sought to achieve three specific objectives: To examine the
extent to which the communities were aware of the Nyanza 2000 Roads project; to
find out how far the community members participated in Nyanza 2000 Roads project
including achievements and limitations; and to determine barriers to effective
community participation in the Nyanza 2000 Roads Project.
The study covered selected priority roads in Gucha district. This district is among the
five districts under phase one of the SIDA supported programmes under the Nyanza
Roads 2000 Project. Purposive random sampling methods were used in the selection
of priority roads, groups and individuals that were participating in the project that
were interviewed using a structured interview schedule. The Key informants were
also identified and interviewed.
The findings established that the community members participated in the project
through three approaches namely: formation of community groups; participation in
the implementation process; and in sharing of skills/expertise. Participation in the
project implementation process involved provision of human labour; identification of
the project; community endorsement; identification of project priorities at the district level; and identification of the roads and in demarcations. The principal participants in
the Roads 2000 Project included the local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs);
community groups; opinion leaders; the youth; women groups; people living with
HIV /AIDS (PL WHAS); and the provincial administration. Their roles in the project
included project implementation; project identification; decision making at both local
and district levels; through monitoring and evaluation; to offer trainings; and project
planning.
To enhance participation, the study recommended that the government should
encourage both its agencies and the civil society to educate citizens to enable them to
know the rights of participation in development projects; the provincial administration
should organize public forums to update the members of the community on the
ongoing development projects besides advising them on their participatory roles; the
contractors should be compelled to source casual labour from the local communities
from which they are executing a development project to enable the members to own
the project. More sensitization workshops should be organized for community
members; education of community members on technical roads construction should
be done; involvement by project contractors and engineers during decision making
stages is necessary; and the members of the communities should be involved in
identification of priority areas of local development projects.
Citation
Masters thesis University of Nairobi (2008)Publisher
University of Nairobi Department of Sociology
Description
Masters of Arts in sociology (community development)