FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS’ FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF MAKUENI COUNTY, KENYA
Faith Matheka - Master of Business Administration (Finance Option), School of Business, Economics and Tourism, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Margaret Kosgei - Lecturer, School of Business, Economics and Tourism, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
There continue to exist challenges in the Kenyan County Governments’ financial performance despite the efforts put in place by the Ministry of National Treasury and Economic Planning to improve the County Governments’ financial performance. This is evidenced by the late submission of financial reports to the Controller of Budget by the County Treasuries, underperformance in own source revenue, presence of high pending bills at the end of each Financial Year, Low absorption of development budget and the failure to submit financial and non-financial reports for the established County Public funds. These aspects undermine the efficient financial performance of the County Governments. The study targeted to ascertain how Financial Management Practices impact on the County Governments’ financial performance with the objectives being to ascertain how financial management practices, financial reporting, financial planning, and control activities affect the County Government's financial performance. The theories employed in the research were the positive accounting theory, agency theory, stewardship theory and the fraud triangle theory. Descriptive research design was applied on all One hundred Makueni County Treasury staff members. First hand data was gathered through administering an online questionnaire using Google Forms. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 25 and MS Excel 2016. Data was presented using charts and tables. The adjusted R-squared 45.7% of financial performance is explained by financial reporting, financial planning and control activities. The p-values are less than 0.05 implying that financial reporting, financial planning and control activities are significant in explaining financial performance in Makueni county. The study concluded that financial planning, financial reporting and control activities influence financial performance of County governments. The government should ensure that all the employees adhere to the financial management practices to enable the government function effectively and improve on the financial performance. This will ensure that the resources are used prudently and that objectives of government are achieved.