Factors Influencing Performance of Devolved Government Units in Kenya: A Case of Department of Agriculture, Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

The international unresponsive approach by centralized governments to the social, cultural and economic needs of the citizenry at the grassroots did inform the devolution of both political and administrative powers to sub-national levels of governments. This was with the view that bringing government officers closer to the people would improve public services delivery. This study investigated the factors influencing the performance of devolved government units in Kenya, a case of the department of agriculture in Meru county. In particular, it examined the influence of employee motivation, staff training and development, resources mobilization and staff accountability on the performance of devolved government units. The study was hinged on three theories; Agency, Stakeholders and Contract theories. The study made use of a correlational survey research design since it was interested in unearthing the influence of each of the independent variable factors on the performance of the devolved units of government in Kenya, a case of the department of agriculture in Meru county. The target population for the study were all employees of the department of Agriculture in Meru county, that is 68 employees, a census was therefore conducted. Questionnaires and interview guides were be used to collect both quantitative and qualitative primary data in the study locale, while secondary data was gotten from the agriculture department in the county government of Meru offices. Quantitative data was coded into SPSS v23 for analysis using correlation and regression techniques, while qualitative data was put into put into themes so as to get patterns which were used to beef up the quantitative output. Data was presented in frequency tables. The study found out that the following; that there is a very strong positive correlation between employee motivation and performance of devolved units of government in Kenya, a case of the department of agriculture in Meru county, a positive and significant correlation was established between staff training and development and performance of devolved units of government in Kenya, a case of the department of agriculture in Meru county, as well as a positive and significant correlation between resources mobilization and performance of devolved units of government in Kenya, a case of the department of agriculture in Meru county, and lastly, a very strong positive correlation was established between accountability and performance of devolved units of government in Kenya, a case of the department of agriculture in Meru county. In conclusion, the performance of the agriculture department which is a devolved unit of government is positively and significantly influenced by employees' motivation, staff accountability, staff training & development and resource mobilization. Based on the findings, the research recommends that emphasis should be put on staff accountability and employee motivation, as they are considered to be the greatest influences of performance of devolved units of government in Kenya, a case of the department of agriculture in Meru county. Since 79.4% of the variations in the performance of the devolved government units was explained by the four independent variables chosen, a study should be carried to find out which other variables influence the performance of devolved units of government.

This study will therefore be useful to the national government and other 47 county governments in their quest to fulfill their mandates within their jurisdictions