Abstract:
Many housing projects in developing countries like Kenya, do encounter delays in their
completion due to cost overruns. Sometimes such projects are terminated or abandoned
before their completion and such they fail to realize their objectives for which they were
initiated. The main objective of this study was to establish how project management
practices result to timely completion of housing projects in Machakos County, Kenya. The
findings were then used to generalize the determinants of the timely completion of housing
projects in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were: (a) to assess the impact of
project planning on the timely completion of housing projects in Machakos County: (b) To
analyze the impact of stakeholders participation in housing projects in Machakos County
and their timely completion; (c) To determine the impact of risk management in housing
projects and the timely completion of housing projects in Machakos County; and (d) To
assess the role project monitoring and evaluation played in housing projects in Machakos
County and their timely completion. This study was anchored on the Stakeholders Theory
by Freeman R.E (1984) and The Theory of Change by Carol, W. (1995). The Study
adopted an explanatory research design approach. A target population of 330 comprised of
managers, middle level and lower level workers of housing projects which were initiated
in Machakos County. The data for the study were collected from both secondary and
primary. A Sample size of 80 respondents were randomly selected and questionnaires
were administered to them. The quantitative data generated was analyzed quantitatively
using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) tool. Data was presented in form of
tables and results revealed that project planning (Beta = 0.049, p=0.029); stakeholders
participation (Beta=0.060, p=0.083); risk management (Beta=0.046, p=0.007) and
monitoring and evaluation (Beta=0.168, p=0.000) were all significant except for the
stakeholders participation and contributed to the timely completion of the housing
projects. The study therefore recommends that for Kenyan housing projects to be
completed in time, proper planning for housing projects should be undertaken.
Stakeholders should take interest in those housing projects and participate fully from the
time of initiation to completion. Proper risk management assessment should be undertaken
to reduce uncertainties in projects. Lastly, monitoring and evaluation, during
implementation (on going evaluation) and even after completion of the project (post
evaluation) should be undertaken in order to make improvements where need arises.
