Determinants of Effective Implementation of Devolution Support Programme: A Case of Kericho County Government, Kenya

Abstract

Devolution, as a system of governance holds the principle of subsidiary which advocates for the transfer of responsibilities and decision-making powers from the central government to the local governance units.  Despite the above aspirations, devolution in Kenya is yet to be celebrated by the citizenry to the levels that were expected. This study investigated the influence of provision of adequate resources, legislation and employee capacity building on the effective implementation of devolution support program in Kericho County, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The target population was 280 respondents. Cluster and purposive sampling techniques were employed in the study to determine a sample size of 84. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data which was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. It was established that availability of resources and employee capacity building significantly enhance implementation of devolution. However, prevailing laws and regulations do not. The study recommends the county government to enact laws that would promote mobilization of local resources and revenue collection to boost its income so as to meet the expectation of the people. Also, the county assembly should expedite the time it takes to develop necessary legislation so as to encourage investment. For any organization to succeed, training of staff is a key requirement. The county government should have a training policy and a budget to facilitate training of staff in order to equip them with the relevant knowledge to effectively offer services to the population. Relation with donors should be improved to encourage any investment in the region. External donors could help in such areas as capacity building and direct foreign investment. The county key resource areas should be clearly identified in the strategic plan of the county to make it easy for potential investors to bring investment to the county.

Key Words: Provision of Adequate Resources, Legislation, Employee Capacity Building, Implementation of Devolution Support Program in Kericho County, Kenya