The Influence of Leadership Styles on Public Participation in Monitoring and Evaluation of Preschool Projects in Migori County, Kenya

Abstract

Effective leaders are today required by each organisation to enhance unity and performance among other key virtues. In Kenya, the 2010 constitutional promulgation ushered in a new administrative mandate to devolved counties, where key services like preschool education are to be handled by county governments. County Governments are thus expected to start up preschool projects which suit the needs and demands of the local society. Scholars have established that there have been low levels of public participation in projects started up by local authorities, particularly in the developing world, Kenya included, although the same is considered an important endeavor particularly in M&E. Whether low public participation is attributed to leadership styles in these devolved units is yet to be established through research. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of leadership style on public participation in M&E of preschool projects in Migori County. Specific objectives were to assess the level of public participation in M&E of preschool projects; establish the types of leadership styles employed; and to establish the relationship between leadership style and public participation in M&E of preschool projects in Migori County. Target population was 884 preschool project committee members and 7 sub county ECE officers. A sample size of 399 was derived using Yamane's (1967) formula. Questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations and regressions were used for data analysis. It was found that the leadership style in place provides little support for public participation in M&E of preschool projects, although respondents considered it to be an essential practice to enhance the same. Leadership style was found to correlate positively and highly (.816^**<p=0.03, 2 tailed) with public participation in M&E of preschool projects, with a beta of 0.609 and R² of 0.725. This suggests that the more favourable leadership style is, the higher public participation in M&E of preschool projects would be in the county government on one hand, and that leadership style accounts for 72.5% of public participation in M&E of the projects in the county government under study. For the enhancement of public participation, the study recommends that democratic and participative leadership styles should be put in place by the county governments. Moreover, given that 27.5% of public participation in M&E of preschool projects in the devolved units is not explained by leadership style, it is recommended that further studies be done on the influence of other institutional factors like organizational structure on public participation in M&E of preschool projects in this area.