Critical Success Factors in the Implementation of the Re-engineered Integrated Financial Management Information System in Government Ministries, Kenya

Abstract

The government of Kenya through the Ministry of National treasury set to carry out Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms with the development of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) in 1998 and its subsequent deployment to line ministries in 2003. The system faced a number of challenges prompting for its re-engineering which was started in 2011 as one of the ways of overcoming those challenges and to create a financial information system that was integrated, efficient and reliable. The purpose of this study was to investigate the critical success factors in the implementation of the re-engineered IFMIS in government ministries in Kenya. The researcher used survey research design. Stratified sampling technique was used to divide the population into three strata: finance officers, ICT officers and Key system users and obtained a sample size of 54. The study collected primary data through the use of a questionnaire. The study established the following 9 group of factors as being critical in the implementation of the re-engineered IFMIS: user involvement in the process and clear procedures for recruitment and risk management; proper management of resources; top level management support; good communication strategies among stakeholders, team spirit and good support teams, skilled team; clear and properly set goals and objectives; appropriate infrastructure; set timelines for capacity building and achievement of goals and objectives; and involvement of competent firms in the project. In addition, co-operation among departments, the availability of experts, adequate learning materials and adequate pre-testing of the system were found to have contributed to the success of the implementation.