Public Participation in Budgeting and its Influence on Performance of Devolved Governance Systems in Mombasa County, Kenya
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Date
2025-06
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Mombasa County has witnessed challenges in its performance, notably delays in completion of projects and poor access to services. Additional issues include inadequate accountability from the employees. For instance, according to Jura (2025), about 55% of the projects in Mombasa County in the final year 2022/2023 – 2024/2025 were classified as stalled. There is low level of accountability in Mombasa that has negatively impacted service delivery. Lack of accountability in Mombasa County among other performance challenges is intertwined with inadequate public participation in governance process. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the influence of public participation in budgeting on performance of devolved governance system in Mombasa County, Kenya. More specifically, the study sought to establish the influence of citizen awareness in budget planning, citizen engagement in budget planning as well as monitoring and evaluation in budgeting on performance of devolved governance systems in Mombasa County. The study used a descriptive research design targeting 378,422 households and 12 stakeholders in Mombasa County. Through Yamane formula, the sample size of 412 respondents was determined. While households were sampled through stratified random method, census was used to sample stakeholders. Self administered questionnaire was used to collect data with close and open ended questions. The questionnaire was pilot tested among 42 respondents from Mtwapa Township in Kilifi County to determine validity and reliability. The collected quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS version 27 using means and standard deviations as well as multiple regression analysis model and findings were presented through tables and figures. For open ended questions, content analysis was used to explore emerging themes and presented in prose form. The findings were that citizen awareness in budget planning (β=.224, p=0.002), citizen engagement in budget planning (β=.232, p=0.003) and monitoring and evaluation in budgeting (β=.213, p=0.004) were all found to be positive and significant predictors of performance of devolved governance systems in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study concluded that citizen awareness in budget planning, citizen engagement in budget planning as well as monitoring and evaluation in budgeting exert positive and significant influence on performance of devolved governance systems in Kenya. On the first objective, it is recommended that robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks should be established to track the implementation of budget allocations and outcomes. In regard to the second objective, policymakers and governance leaders in Mombasa County should prioritize the promotion of citizen engagement in the budgeting process. As per the last objective, it is recommended that local governments in Mombasa County should prioritize and invest more in capacity building in budgeting processes.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the School of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree of Master of Public Policy and Administration of Kenyatta University, June, 2025
Supervisor:
1.Edna Moi