STAKEHOLDER AWARENESS AND FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE WARD DEVELOPMENT FUND IN MARSABIT COUNTY, KENYA
Hillary Molu Halkano - School of Business, Economics and Tourism, Department of Accounting and Finance, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Margaret Kosgei (PhD, MBA, CPA-K) - School of Business, Economics and Tourism, Department of Accounting and Finance, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Financial accountability is a critical component for advancing sustainability, ensuring efficient resource utilization, and fostering effective governance. The Ward Development Fund (WDF) is faced with challenges such as corruption and misappropriation of funds, low absorption of development funds. With statistics indicating that the percentage of unaccounted expenditures of WDF in Marsabit County is 47 percent, the study focused on the role of stakeholder awareness on financial accountability of WDF in Marsabit County. The study used a descriptive survey design. The study targeted Ward Administrators, Ward Development Committee members, County Government Finance and Planning Officers and community members from the 20 wards of Marsabit County. The study used Yamane's (1967) formula at 95 per cent confidence level to select a sample size of 105 respondents from the targeted population. The respondents selected included 97 who successfully completed the questionnaires giving a response rate of 92.4 per cent. The study used questionnaires administered on a five-point Likert scale to obtain quantitative data from the respondents. Cronbach Alpha for stakeholder awareness was 0.814. The study revealed that, the composite mean for stakeholder awareness was 2.89 which falls on the moderate level of awareness. Although general awareness on the existence of WDF was high (Mean=3.82), awareness on access to WDF financial reports was in the low category (Mean=2.41) as well as awareness on accountability mechanisms (Mean=2.59). The study established that stakeholder awareness had a statistically significant positive effect on financial accountability of the WDF (β = 0.584, t = 5.236, p < 0.001; r = 0.584, p < 0.01). A one-unit increase in stakeholder awareness was associated with a 0.461-unit improvement in financial accountability. Thus, rejecting the null hypothesis. The study concluded that, the gap between awareness on the existence of a WDF and the lack of awareness on accountability mechanisms is the main accountability issue facing WDF in Marsabit County. The study recommends that community members should be sensitized through civic education forums at the level of the ward.