Determinants of public participation in policy making at devolved government in Kitui County, Kenya
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Date
2025-04
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Public participation in policy development has become a fundamental tenet of devolvement. It should be entrenched in the constitution of any democratic country. Public participation helps in involving the people in the project management and evaluation thus embedding a sense of ownership to the project. It calls upon the people to be at the Centre of decision-making processes and policy formulation. The enactment of the subsequent Acts of parliament since 2010 lay ground for the involvement of people in Kenya in decision making as a key component of governance with commensurate effort in enabling mechanisms to enable this. The study area of public participation is growing and there is still room for more knowledge on how it influences decision making in particular during public policy formulation. The stakeholder theory (ST) and structural functional theory (SFT) formed the key theoretical underpinning of this study. The study was centered on the following specific objectives: to ascertain the influence of legal awareness on public participation during policy formulation, to examine the influence of access to information on public participation during policy formulation, to examine the influence of inclusivity on public participation during policy formulation and, to examine the influence of financial incentives as determinants of public participation during policy formulation in Kitui County. Data analysis was done through SPSS to give descriptive information. The study targeted members of public, Members of the County Assembly (MCAs), County Executive Committee (CEC) members and County level government administrators, project managers and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) leadership and community covering an education range between primary and post graduate level. A total of 231 filled questionnaires, representing a 77% response rate, were collected from respondents in targeted sub-counties. The results revealed that gender bias is not a significant factor in public participation, with 48.6% male and 51.4% female respondents. Most participants were aged between 35-45 years (34.6%), and the majority had tertiary education (35%). The analysis of independent variables indicated all variables had significant influence in policy formulation. Financial Incentives had the most substantial positive impact, followed by Legal Awareness, Prior Information Access, and Inclusivity in public participation. The study recommends continuous education on legal frameworks, the adoption of county-specific public participation laws, and structured media campaigns to inform the public about the prominence of participation in policy formulation. Additionally, enhancing inclusivity and providing financial incentives were highlighted as crucial strategies for promoting effective public participation in Kitui County's policy formulation. The findings reveal that 80.73% of respondents were aware of policy guidelines, highlighting the crucial role of County Assembly Members in raising awareness. Despite this, the absence of a County-specific public participation policy is noted, prompting the recommendation for targeted civic education programs. Regarding information access, 80.73% of participants believe it enhances the quality of proposals and decisions, though deficiencies exist in current dissemination channels like the website. Recommendations include intentional strategies for inclusive representation and feedback mechanisms. Examining financial incentives, the study recognizes their impact but highlights their limitations without considering other factors. Basic incentives, like lunch and local transport, are deemed insufficient. Recommendations encompass improving incentive provision, developing citizen engagement structures, and implementing continuous civic education. In conclusion, the study advocates for a holistic approach, intertwining legal frameworks, civic education, and citizen engagement to realize meaningful participation, with suggestions for future research in counties with specific laws and the correlation between effective public participation and good governance.
Description
A research project submitted to the school of law, arts and social sciences in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of master of public policy and administration of Kenyatta University, April 2025
Supervisor.
Dr. Patrick Mbataru