Factors influencing the implementation of county government mandates in Kenya; a case of Bungoma county
Abstract
The implementation of devolved governments has been growing all over the
world. The trend seems to indicate that many governments do not fully implement
their devolved systems due to limitations that arise in the course of their
implementation process. The purpose this study was to investigate on the factors
influencing implementation of county government mandates in Bungoma County.
The study was guided by the following objectives; to establish how public
participation influence implementation of county government mandates in Bungoma
County, to assess the extent to which human resources influence implementation of
county government mandates in Bungoma County, to determine how financial
management influence implementation of county government mandates in Bungoma
County and to determine how legislations influence the implementation of county
government mandates in Bungoma County. The researcher employed a descriptive
survey design and targeted ward and sub-county administrators, MCAs, County
director-Human Resource, Chief Officer-Finance, Chief Officer-Public
administration, County Legal Officer and the Chairman, County Public Service
Board. The target population was 123, which was also the sample size. A census
sampling procedure was used to select the respondents for the study. Questionnaire
and interview schedules were used as data collection instruments. Validity and
reliability of the research instruments were tested prior to actual collection of data.
The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in the tables showing
frequencies, percentages and averages. The findings show that public participation in
governance is still low; the county government is still facing challenges in delivering
essential services coupled with hiccups of human resource and manpower. It was
revealed that financial management systems to manage devolved funds and revenue
collection in the county are still in progress and yet to pick up. Efforts to legislate
laws and statutes to support county government mandates are time consuming and
tedious and involve many other institutions which are yet to harmonize their acts. In
conclusion, public participation through radio talk shows and forums, adequate,
skilled and well motivated manpower, prudent financial management procedures and
focused, clear and supportive pieces of legislation all influence the implementation of
the county government mandates in Bungoma County. The study recommends that
continuous civic education should be considered to bring the public on board in
matters of governance, well structured human skills needs assessment and measures
to institute a skilled labor force for the county government should be enhanced. It also
recommends that transparency and accountability should be paramount in financial
management of county resources and the organs charged with enactment of
legislations to support devolution and county government should be empowered in all
aspects. This study will therefore be useful to the national government and other
county governments in their quest to fulfill their mandates within their jurisdictions.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Description
Thesis
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]