| dc.description.abstract | Kenya, like other developing countries is constrained in terms of resources. The government is
also alive to the fact that it needs to free resources for medium term priorities and has put in
place several interventions towards this. The government is also aware that with the two levels of
government in place, national and county governments, the gap between requirements and
allocations has increased tremendously. With this in mind, it is critical that prudent financial
management should be prioritized through putting in place system for controls and decision
making. IFMIS is one of such systems and the success in its implementation is step in the right
direction. Integrated Financial Management Systems (IFMS) are used by several countries to
control expenditures and track development initiatives. Kenya has been implementing the
systems since 2008 in pilot institutions. With this development, determining the effect of IFMIS
on public financial management and service delivery in government ministries in Kenya was the
motivation behind this paper.
The study used descriptive research design and random sampling method was applied. Primary
and secondary data was used for the study. Primary data was collected from 54 officers drawn
from 18 ministries working in accounts, audit, procurement and finance. The study used a semistructured
questionnaire to elicit information from them, while a desk review complemented the
primary data. Frequency tables, graphs and bar charts were used to present data while SPSS was
used to analyze data. Correlation analysis was used to test the strength of the relationship of the
concerned variables.
The study found out IFMIS has led to significant improvement in both public financial
management and service delivery in government ministries in Kenya. Correlation analysis shows
a strong positive relationship between IFMIS and service delivery at +0.714. In addition, IFMIS
has led to improved resource allocation and reduced fraud rate. All are in agreement that IFMIS
has not only enhanced accountability, efficient allocation of resources and encouraged more
transparency but has also led to improved public financial management and ultimately service
delivery. The system has brought about greater budget utilization, improved service delivery and
enhanced capacity to track budget implementation. The system has further led to the reduction of
fraud and corruption by a great extent, although some reservations exist. Worth noting is the fact
that the system has led to reduced pending bills and this has been occasioned by the high
accountability standards, enhanced transparency and efficient allocation of resources. IFMIS has
also brought about timely production of accurate reports for monitoring and decision making
purposes. | en_US |
