Effect of citizen participation on budget implementation in Kenyan counties: a case study of Nyandarua county

Abstract

The study was aimed at investigating the Effect of Citizen Participation on Budget Implementation in Kenyan Counties with a special focus on Nyandarua County. The research was guided by one main objective: To examine the effect of citizen participation on budget making process and implementation in the Kenyan county governments and how the independent variables: Citizen Participation and Funds Availability influence the dependent variable: Budget Implementation. The research design of this study was a descriptive survey with a target population of the study was the entire number of the registered voters in Nyandarua County which is 255,984 people. A sample of 400 participants, distributed across the entire county, was identified using simple random sampling method. Questionnaires and interviews of the key informants were used to collect data from the respondents. The analysis of the collected data was done both qualitatively and quantitatively. From the research findings, it was evident that most of the residents that go to public participation fora hail from the headquartes, Ol’Kalou, followed by Ol’ Ojoro Orok Sub County revealing that public participation in Ol’Kalou Sub County is higher than in Kinangop despite the high gap in population. Majority of the respondents who indicated having attended one or more public participation fora were males, aged 23-32. Additionally, most of the respondents who attend public participation fora have at least attained secondary school level of education. They however indicated dissatisfaction with the way public participation is conducted, citing that their views are hardly ever taken into consideration. Among the researcher’s recommendations is that the government should conduct civic education across the county so that the public is informed of its civic rights, public participation being the most sovereign. The researcher hopes that the conclusions made in this study will go a long way in enhancing public participation not only in Nyandarua but in the country at large.The study was aimed at investigating the Effect of Citizen Participation on Budget Implementation in Kenyan Counties with a special focus on Nyandarua County. The research was guided by one main objective: To examine the effect of citizen participation on budget making process and implementation in the Kenyan county governments as the researcher sought to answer the question; what is the effect, if any, of citizen participation on budget making process and implementation in the Kenyan county governments? The research design of this study was a descriptive survey. The target population of the study was the entire number of the registered voters in Nyandarua County which is 255,984 people in addition to senior officers in the department of Finance and Economic Planning and those responsible for budgeting and budget execution in the County Government comprised of both the County Executive and Assembly. A sample of 400 participants distributed across the entire county were identified using simple random sampling method. Questionnaires and interviews of the key informants were used to collect data from the respondents. The analysis of the collected data was done both qualitatively and quantitatively. From the research findings, it was evident that most of the residents that go to public participation for a hail from the headquartes ,Ol’Kalou, followed by Oljororok Sub County revealing that public participation in Ol’Kalou Sub County is higher than in Kinangop despite the high gap in population. Majority of the respondents who indicated having attended one or more public participation fora were males, aged 23-32, and a clear indication that young people are more likely to understand the concept of public participation. Additionally, most of the respondents who attend public participation fora have at least attained secondary school level of education. This clearly shows that those with no education shy away from public participation. Asked about who informed them about public participation for those who understand what public participation meant most of the participants cited the media, an indication that the media (Print, television and radio) while others cited the constitution which shows that most of the residents have read the constitution and civic education fora as indicated by 10% of the participants. One of the major objective of the study was to establish how participants learnt about the date and venue of the public participation forums. A good number of the participants indicated that they got the information from gazette notices in the newspaper while others pinpointed radio announcements especially by the vernacular radio stations and televisions adverts as their major source of such information. The study also intended to investigate whether public participation empowers the community and a good number of respondents felt that it does, in fact. Respondents were further asked to give their views on some statements regarding public participation and budget implementation, 79.1% were in agreement that the county government gives timelines and venues for public participation in advance, 81% agreed on the same with regard to the county assembly showing that the county assembly is slightly more vibrant in preparing for public participation. Respondents were however not in agreement concerning access to the relevant materials for public participation on time prior to the date of public participation for perusal with 50.6% indicating that they are not able to access the materials. On issues regarding incorporating the comments gathered from public participation 56.8% indicated that their comments are not incorporated in the final approved budgets, 51.8% indicated that they are not involved in project identification, 64.2% further indicated that they do not get any feedback after project identification during budget making process from the county government, 63.4 indicated that the county government does not involve them in implementation while 69.3%indicated that the county government does not involve the citizens in project monitoring. Further, majority of the respondents were of the opinion that projects incorporated in the county budgets were not community-needs driven and hence not helpful to the communities at all. Further from the regression analysis funds availability from the exchequer highly influence budget implementation. Among the researcher’s recommendations is that the government should conduct civic education across the county so that the public is informed of its civic rights, public participation being the most sovereign.