Thesis:

Project management practices and performance of donor funded projects in Garissa county, Kenya.

Effective stakeholder management, project control, monitoring and evaluation, and accountability were crucial for the success of donor-funded projects. Engaging stakeholders using performance metrics, continuous monitoring, maintaining transparency, and ensuring accountability significantly enhanced project outcomes. These practices ensured alignment with stakeholder expectations, timely interventions, informed decision-making, and sustained support. This study aimed to examine the influence of project management practices on the performance of donor-funded projects in Garissa County, Kenya. The specific objectives were to investigate the influence of stakeholder management on the project performance of donor-funded projects, to assess the effect of project control on the project performance of donor-funded projects, to evaluate the influence of project monitoring and evaluation on the project performance of donor-funded projects and to examine the effect of project accountability on the project performance of donor-funded projects in Garissa County, Kenya. The study was guided by Stakeholder, Control, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Accountability theories. This study used a descriptive research design and a quantitative research approach. The study's target population comprised 314 respondents, including 157 project managers and 157 coordinators working on donor-funded projects in Garissa County. The annual Non governmental Organizations sector report for 2021/2022, which categorized donorfunded projects into eight groups to ensure thorough coverage of project types in the region, served as the basis for selecting this target group. A stratified random sampling technique was used to ensure fair representation of each category. The sample size, determined using the Yamane (1967) formula at a 5% precision level, included approximately 176 respondents, evenly divided between project managers and coordinators. Questionnaires were used to collect data, and a pilot study was conducted in Wajir County. Expert and peer reviews determined the validity of these tools, and Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.7 was used to assess the instruments' dependability. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 26.0 was used to clean, code, and enter the collected data. Descriptive analysis was conducted using frequencies, percentages, and means. Inferential analysis of the quantitative data was performed using multiple linear regression to assess the association between the independent and dependent variables at a 95% confidence level. Ethical considerations such as data preservation, informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, and privacy were observed throughout the study. The overall significance of the regression model was tested in the ANOVA table (Table 14). The model was statistically significant, with a p-value of 0.004 and an F-statistic of 0.684. This implied that the independent variables significantly impacted project performance. The significance threshold supported the hypothesis that project management techniques, such as stakeholder management and accountability, contributed to the success of donor-funded projects (p < 0.05). Although procedures like risk management and structured work plans were acknowledged, issues with timely payments, resource availability, and safety training highlighted gaps that needed to be addressed. The statistically significant relationship between project control and performance underscored the importance of continuously deployed control methods for project success. Project teams needed to establish transparent and uniform accountability frameworks to ensure accountability. This could be achieved through consistent training and reinforcing the value of both individual and team accountability to enhance ownership and performance