Factors affecting implementation of perfomance contracts in the Kenyan Civil Service: A case of Ndhiwa District

Abstract

Public sector reforms have become a common phenomenon around the globe, especially in developing countries. These have become the way of responding to the needs of the taxpayers. The primary development goal for any country is to achieve broad-based, sustainable improvement in the standards of the quality of life for its citizens. The Public service and in particular the civil service plays an indispensable role in the delivery of public services that are key to the functioning of a state economy. When the delivery of services is constrained or becomes ineffective, it affects the quality of life of the people and nation's development process. Performance contracting was introduced in state corporations and government ministries in Kenya as part of the broader public sector reforms aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness in the management of public affairs. While there have been some successes recorded on the same, this intervention has been faced by numerous challenges which have affected its implementation in public service. This study, therefore, seeks to establish and explore the various ways in which performance contracts can be implemented to achieve the desired results. The study was based in Ndhiwa District in Horna Bay County. The Research design was descriptive in nature. The data was collected using questionnaires as the principal data collection instrument and was administered to the employees in the target ministries. The target population was 315 subdivided into strata according to the different ministries thereby a total sample of 66 respondents were interviewed. Within the strata the samples was selected using simple random sampling. Data was analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics, which includes frequency distribution tables and percentages. Computer package Excel and SPSS computer software was used to carry out the analysis of the data. The data was presented using bar graphs, pie charts and cross-tabulation.