EFFECTS OF COUNTY PUBLIC PARTICIPATION FORUMS ON SERVICE DELIVERY IN NAROK COUNTY, KENYA
EFFECTS OF COUNTY PUBLIC PARTICIPATION FORUMS ON SERVICE DELIVERY IN NAROK COUNTY, KENYA
Kool Johnson Nkirrimpa - Student, Masters of Arts in Public Policy and Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Wilson Muna - Lecturer, Department of Public Policy and Administration, Kenyatta university, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Service delivery within counties depends heavily on citizen participation through county public participation, effective resource mobilization, and local leaders' accountability. However, there are not enough mechanisms in place to enable citizens to fully participate in the development agenda and resource allocation. Additionally, there are currently no mechanisms in place by the county government to make public expenditure data accessible. However, the current study sought to determine the effect of county public participation forums on service delivery in Narok County, Kenya. The study objectives was to explore the effect of stakeholders’ engagement on service delivery in Narok County. The research was anchored by Public Choice Theory. A descriptive research design was utilized. The survey targeted 550 people who have participated at least three county forums as per record. The study sampled 84 respondents using stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaires were utilized to gather data from the sampled participants. Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively and inferentially. Descriptive statistics like percentage, frequency, mean and standard deviations. The research findings were displayed by charts and tables. The findings revealed that resource mobilization, stakeholders’ engagement and access to information affect the service delivery as the P-value was 0.003 which is below the level of significance 0.05. Further, the results established that R was 0.824, adjusted R square was 0.663 and R squared was 0.679. Adjusted R square of 0.663 infers that 66.3% of service delivery in Narok county, Kenya are explained by the independent variables (resource mobilization, stakeholders’ engagement and access to information) of the study. The study concluded that revenue given to the county government of Narok is insufficient to support county government services and stakeholders’ engagement in county public participation forums enhance accountability and transparency on service delivery. The study recommends that Narok County Government should encourage citizen participation in policy creation, implementation, and all stages of project planning and execution. This would necessitate citizen capacity building through training to ensure citizens have sufficient understanding on how to create policies that will enable successful public engagement and good governance.
