Influence of public participation on implementation of county government projects: case of Makueni county, Kenya

Abstract

The study aimed at assessing the influence of public participation on implementation of county government projects: case of Makueni County, Kenya. The study was guided by following specific objectives; to determine the influence of public participation in project identification process, budget preparation process, governance process and monitoring and evaluation process on implementation of Makueni county projects. A descriptive research design was used for this study. Our target population was the project committee members, executive project management consultant members and technical officers involved in implementation of the projects for the last at least three years at Makueni sub-counties. Using a stratified random sampling procedure, 99 respondents (30% of the population) were chosen from the target population. The study used primary methods in data collection using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, percentages, standard deviation, and arithmetic mean, were used to examine the results. Inferential analysis was used in determination of the relationship between the variables. These findings indicated that the budget preparation and governance process play a crucial role in the successful implementation of county government projects in Makueni County, Kenya, while effective monitoring and evaluation are negatively associated with project implementation.