Influence of Community Participation on Performance of National Government-Constituency Development Fund Education Projects in Teso South Constituency, Busia County, Kenya

Abstract

National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) was introduced in Kenya with an aim of bringing resources closer to the people to enhance equitable development and alleviation of poverty. However, most projects, about 65%, initiated through the fund face completion challenges and some of the completed don’t meet the community requirements meaning lack of community involvement. Therefore, this study sought to assess community involvement in various NG-CDF-funded education projects in various capacities and then link it to performance in Teso South Constituency. A descriptive research design was adopted and the target population was the contractors, headmasters, representatives of the community (chairperson, treasurer and secretary), project supervisors and NG-CDF staff. In total, 227 respondents were targeted but the sample size focused on was 144. A mixed methodology was adopted in the study where both questionnaires and Key Informant Interviews were conducted. Therefore, both thematic and quantitative procedures were adopted in data analysis. The findings indicated that community participation in identification of the project has significant positive impact on projects performance. Moreover, community participation in project planning as well as decision-making was also established to affect the performance of NG-CDF education projects in a positive and significant manner. The study recommends management of national government constituencies’ development fund to involve the members of the community during the allocation of financial resources in order to ensure that funds from the county government are used in the right way for the successful completion of education projects in Teso South Constituency within the set within budget, scope and time. The management of NG-CDF projects should also incorporate the community members’ knowledge into the project by assigning them decision-making ability in order to facilitate accountability and transparency in national government constituencies’ development fund as well as enhance community satisfaction in the education projects.

Key Words:  Community participation in project identification; Community participation in project planning; Community participation in decision making; Project Performance