dc.description.abstract | This study examines the role of Government departments in the formulation of the Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Broadly stated, the purpose of the study is to strengthen
knowledge about, and highlight the role of stakeholders in policy formulation and particularly
the formulation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. The study specifically focuses on
government departments, which have been particularly instrumental in the formulation of the
Poverty Reduction Strategy in Kenya.
The starting point for the study is the major proposition forwarded to the extent that poverty
reduction strategies in the past have not cognisance of the involvement of stakeholders. Given
the widespread consultations during the PRSP formulation, it is not clear what roles the
stakeholders have played in the policy formulation. The conceptual framework employed by
the study is the strategic management approach to research. Using this instrument, it is
demonstrated that strategic management is a fundamental planning process since strategic
decisions influence the way organizations responds to their environment. The involvement of
stakeholders is central to national policy formulation, since it ensures participation and -. ownership and commitment to the achievement of the policy objectives.
In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a questionnaire with both structured and semi
structured questions were administered to the respondents by the researcher. A sample of 22
government departments engaged in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework were selected
out of 45 for this study and were considered an adequate sample to provide the measure of their
involvement in the policy formulation process. Data was collected and analysed using a five
point Likert scale to measure the extent of the department's perceived involvement in the
Poverty Reduction Strategy formulation process. Both ordinal and nominal scales were used to rate the different variables. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise data including
frequency counts and qualitative analysis of the data gathered from the population of study.
Cross tabulations were used for purposes of comparison.
The findings of this study clearly indicate that while the departments as stakeholders provided
valuable technical expertise to the formulation process they were clearly constrained by the
prevailing International Financing Institutions agenda. Donor overshadowing in the process
clearly compromised the achievement of identified Poverty Reduction Strategy priorities
through the constantly changing resource conditionalities.
From the findings of the study, it can be concluded that despite the centrality of stakeholder
involvement in national policy formulation that ensures participation and ownership, and
commitment to the achievement of the policy objectives, the practice however through this
study, demonstrates that when external factors come into play in this case the development
partners, stakeholders consultations may be deemed cosmetic leading to a gap between
strategy formulation and realisation. The study further reinforces the importance of
stakeholders at all levels of the strategy development pr-oc.ess in enhancing ownership and
opening up the space for participation.
The study recommends the further entrenchment of stakeholder consultations in national
policy formulation. Taking cognisance of the fact that the policy formulation strategies
supported by international development partners like (IMF and World Bank) sometimes clash
with traditional domestic policy formulation strategies, it is also recommended that as a first
step, there is need to inculcate among all stakeholders including government departments, a
culture of inclusion and participation in national policy formulation. | en |