Abstract:
Education is a basic human right recognized by any government as fundamental for
human development both at individual and national level. Despite consistent efforts
made by Kenya government to improve the education sector in the country, cases of
unsuccessful secondary public schools’ projects in Mandera County have led to
episodes of student unrest such as strikes, violent protests and poor performance due to
inadequate facilities. Most secondary school projects either stall or do not perform
according to plan. There have been cases of wrangles amongst stakeholders involved
in the undertaking of such projects. This study sought to investigate the extent of
stakeholder participation in the different phases of project life cycle and its influence
on successful completion of secondary school projects in the county. Specifically, the
study analyzed the influence of stakeholder participation in the initiation, planning,
implementation and review phases. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The
target population was 1028 stakeholders that included; head teachers, deputy head
teachers, teachers, parents, education officers, government officials and board of
governors. The study employed stratified random sampling technique to select 206
respondents from the target population. The study made use of primary data that was
collected by use of semi structured questionnaires and an interview guide. Descriptive
and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Relevant frequency, percentage,
mean, standard deviation and regressed values were then presented in table form. The
extent of successful completion of secondary school projects was minimal with 47
percent of the respondents ranking the projects undertaken as only partially meeting the
project objectives. Results from the study indicates that 81 percent of the respondents
were of the opinion that, to improve success rate of secondary school projects in
Mandera County, mechanisms should be put in place to ensure increased stakeholder
participation in the different phases of secondary school projects in the County. The
mean score of project initiation, implementation, participation, and review phases were
1.94, 1.65, 1.88 and 2.62 out of a maximum of 5 respectively indicating that there was
minimal stakeholder participation in secondary school projects. The regression model
predicts that stakeholder participation in the project initiation, implementation,
participation, and review phases leads to a .582, .574, .569 and .547 increase in projects
success respectfully. In conclusion, the researcher found that there was minimal
stakeholder participation in the different phases of the project lifecycle that led to the
unsuccessful completion of secondary school projects in Mandera. It is therefore
recommended that managers of secondary school projects to ensure there is proper
strategies and mechanisms in place for the inclusion of stakeholders in the different
phases of project life cycle to enhance proper stakeholder participation