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.