Determinants of Citizen Participation in Devolved Governance in Kenya; a Case Study of Machakos County
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Date
2016Author
Daudi., Kalekye A.
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Devolution is mainly associated with decentralization of power and sharing national
resources among county. Despite the centrality of public participation in ensuring good
governance, studies reveal that there is an information gap on the devolved structures and
what constitutes devolution in the Kenyan context. This study therefore seeks to assess
the determinants of citizen participation in devolved governance in the Country. The
study was guided by the following specific objectives: to establish the nature of citizen
participation in devolved governance, to find out institutional factors influencing citizen
participation in devolved governance, to determine individual factors influencing their
participation in devolved governance and the socio-cultural factors influencing their
participation in devolved governance.
The study adopted the use of exploratory research design. The target population for the
study was members of the public (18 years and above), members of the County assembly
and ministers in County Government. Stratified sampling technique was used to group
the population into constituencies. Purposive sampling was used to sample the
participants for the study. This study was carried out in seven constituencies where one
was used for piloting. A total of 182 respondents were targeted by the study (constituting
168 members of the public, 8 MCAs and 6 ministers) out of which 107 responded
(members of the public, 6 MCAs and 5 ministers) giving a response rate of 64%.
Data collection was done through Key Informant Interview schedules for MCAs and
Ministers and Focus group discussions for members of the public. The interview
information was analyzed in a systematic whereby the author established patterns, trends
and relationships in the information gathered and came to useful conclusions and
recommendations,. The study found that members of the public in Machakos County
participate in County governance in the following ways: attending development
meetings, consultative forums and. The study also found that institutional factors such as
outdated structures, poor security, corruption, tribalism and nepotism, lacking formal
procedures to host public views and lack of proper channels for feedback. The individual
related factors such as poverty, lack of time and interest, ignorance and lack of
confidence on the county leadership hinder their participation in governance. Sociocultural
factors such as: poor distribution of resources, poverty, illiteracy and age barriers
influence the participation of the public in public governance.
The study recommended that more awareness be created among the members of the
public. This will encourage their participation in governance as they will know the
importance of participation and ways by which they can participate. The study finally
recommended that another study be done to assess the challenges facing the County
government in involving members of the public in governance which was not the concern
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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