The Effect of Participatory Budgeting on Healthcare Services in Makueni Sub County

Abstract

Participatory Budgeting experiments in municipalities across the world have yielded as varied results as there are municipalities. The Kenyan experience of participatory experiments has not fared any better. These have so far registered mixed result in promoting citizen-centred development. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of Participatory Budgeting on healthcare service delivery in Makueni Sub- County. This study sought to examine both Makueni’s participatory budgeting process and the level of citizen engagement in the said process. The study grounded itself in participatory democratic theory to achieve its set objective. The study employed a case study design to investigate the Participatory Budgeting process in Makueni Sub County. Sampling was done purposively and through snowballing for semi-structured and unstructured interviews of Makueni citizens and key informants. The study, in response to its theoretical propositions, used pattern matching, explanation building, content analysis and descriptive statistics as data analysis techniques. The study found that Makueni’s formal participatory framework has encouraged the involvement of citizens in budget making allowing citizens, to some degree, influence spending at the Ward level in line with their priorities. The study concludes that PB has promoted healthcare services delivery in Makueni. But this is insofar as the construction of healthcare facilities is seen as a sufficient proxy indicator for delivery of healthcare services. There is, however, no evidence suggesting that Makueni’s PB has directed any resources to the operationalization of these facilities, which entails such concerns as equipping, staffing and running of medical programmes