Effectiveness of public participation in budgeting for development projects in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Public participation is the basic principle of democracy and it has become one of the important conditions which are essential for the implementations of programmes and projects. Over the years, Kenya has progressively shifted from centralized to a decentralized form of governance. Despite the support of devolution and participatory development process, people-centric development projects have not been institutionalised in the grassroot level. The study sought to investigate public participation in budgeting for development projects in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The study was guided by four specific objectives as follows: To establish effectiveness of current legal framework in entrenching public participation, to assess the impact of citizen awareness on public participation on effective devolved governance in the county, to find out influence of accountability on public participation on development projects and to examine the effect of access to county information on public participation in Uasin Gishu Sub counties. The study was based on deliberative democracy theory by BenardManin and Joshua Cohen that claims that political decisions should be the product of fair and reasonable discussion and debate among citizens. The methodology consisted of descriptive survey research design. The study utilized mixed research method in the collection, presentation and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. The target population were the residents of Uasin Gishu sub County as well as ward administrators and senior County officials responsible for public participation and budget execution both in the County Government. A sample of 240 participants was selected across Uasin Gishu Sub Counties using purposive sampling .The sample size was derived from Yamane’s formula. This study used questionnaires and interviews as methods of data collection.This permitted both descriptive and inferential analysis. Data presentation, analysis and discussion of findings were organized thematically according to the four objectives of the study. The study that information accessibility has helped people actively participate in development projects and access of information, citizens initiate more projects. The sampled respondents strongly agreed that there has been more accountability on the projects initiated as a result of citizen participation in the development projects implemented by the County Government. The majority of the respondents were in agreement that effective communication channel has helped to foster a good working relationship between citizens and county government. The study concludes that Uasin Gishu County government provided information to its citizens, however channels used were not convenient due to poor timing and improper use of channels. Awareness levels among the Uasin Gishu residents was low as majority residents had no role to play, had not received training on public participation. The overall study concludes that as a result of citizen participation, accountability has promoted responsive county, more people can now actively participate in forums on development projects. There is more access to county information as the information is made public for all the stakeholders to scrutinize. The study recommends that county government should promote sharing of information through use of accessible channels of communication. The Uasin Gishu County government should develop an ICT- Resource centre where citizens can go and easily access information on various issues on public participation.