| dc.description.abstract | The concept of community participation in development gained prominence in development discourse in the seventies and since then literature on the subject has grown dramatically. What was initially a radical critique of development has relatively quickly become a staple for development practice in the world. The incorporation of the locals in development projects has become a common phenomenon that almost every organization talks about. The purpose of this study was to examine the determinants of community participation in government funded projects in Kenya, taking the case of Mandera West Constituency. In particular, the study examined the influence of community knowledge, leadership qualities, level of education and location of the Funds coordinating offices on community participation in government funded projects in Mandera West Constituency.
The study adopted descriptive research design, on a target population of members of the Mandera West Constituency Development Fund (CDF), the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) and the Women's Enterprise Development Fund (WEDF) committees, as well as ordinary community members. This consisted of a sample size of 405 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires with both close-ended and openended questions to enhance uniformity and to ensure maximum data collection and generation of qualitative and quantitative data. Analysis was done using both descriptive statistics and content analysis. From the findings, 66.6 % of the respondents were aware of existence of YEDF sponsored projects in Mandera west constituency, 41.6% indicated WEDF sponsored projects while 75% stated CDF sponsored projects.
On leadership qualities and participation, most of the respondents had either negative or neutral perception on projects leaders in government funded projects in Mandera West Constituency. On location of community funds offices, it was revealed that 70% of the residents know the location of community development offices while the rest do not know. In addition, 67% agreed that the location influences community participation in the Constituency. In addition, there was little dispersion on responses from the respondents as was indicated by low standard deviation values of as low as below 0.5. On the level of education of the constituents, majority of the respondents think it influences the level of community participation in the projects.
The researcher concludes that leaders' intelligence, communication skills, ability to plan as well as good educational background are highly effective in stirring the residents in participation in government projects. The study recommends that community knowledge should be enhanced through seminars, barazas, workshops, songs, ceremonies and places of worship in the area in order to enhance more participation in government funded projects. Additionally, more trainings should be enhanced by the government to the leaders and managers of government funded projects in Mandera West Constituency to ensure creation of good leadership qualities. The researcher further recommends that education should be emphasized in Mandera West Constituency to enhance community participation in community projects. The government should facilitate easy accessibility of the Community Development Funds Offices for greater participation of the community in the government funded projects. | en_US |
