STAKEHOLDERS PARTICIPATION AND PERFORMANCE OF SANITATION PROJECT IN KISERIAN TOWNSHIP IN KAJIADO COUNTY, KENYA
ABSTRACT
The performance of sanitation projects in Kenya has continued to dwindle day in and day out leading to delayed completion and cost overruns. Kiserian Township Sanitation Project (KTSP) in Kajiado County, Kenya is such a project. KTSP commenced in November 2015 and was planned to be completed by May 2017. However, only 35% of the project was completed by the end of December 2018. The project beneficiaries stopped the construction of the KTSP with the accusation of trespass. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine stakeholders’ participation and performance of the KTSP. The specific objectives were; to assess the influence of stakeholders’ participation in project initiation, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation on the performance of KTSP. This study was anchored on Freeman stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory and institutional theory. The study used mixed method research design. The target population was 663 respondents that involved 600 beneficiary’s household heads, 42 Appointed contractor’s employees, 15 Athi Water Service Board (AWSB) appointed employees, 5 Kajiado county government deployed officers and one (1) appointed project consultant selected through purposive sampling. The sample size of this study was 303 respondents comprising of 240 beneficiary’s household heads, 42 appointed contractor’s deployed employees, 15 (AWSB) appointed employees, 5 Kajiado county government deployed officers and one (1) appointed project consultant. Questionnaires were used to obtain data from beneficiary’s household heads and contractor deployed employees from their homes and workplaces respectively. Face-to-face interviews were conducted for the (AWSB) appointed employees, Kajiado county government deployed officers and appointed project consultant. A pilot study was carried out to check the validity and reliability of the questionnaires in collecting the data required for the study on a neighbouring water project in Ongata Rongai. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to organize, code and analyze information and generate reports. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics were presented in mean, standard deviation and frequencies, while, the inferential statistics included the Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression model. Qualitative data was analyzed through thematic analysis and presented in charts and narrations. The study results, according to beneficiary household heads showed there is a positive significant influence of stakeholders’ participation in project initiation (β=0.206, p=0.008), project planning (β=0.223, p=0.006) and project implementation (β=0.143, p=0.049), while, there is no significant influence of stakeholders’ participation in monitoring and evaluation (β=0.098, p=0.174) on the performance of KTSP. However, Contractor deployed employees showed that there is no significant influence of stakeholders’ participation in project initiation (β=0.038, p=0.832), project planning (β=.110, p=0.631) project implementation (β=0.171, p=0.0362) and monitoring and evaluation (β=0.375, p=0.69) on the performance of KTSP. The qualitative analysis of AWSB appointed employees, Kajiado county government deployed officers and appointed project consultant responses, shows that there is a significant influence of stakeholders’ participation on the performance of the KTSP. The study concludes that stakeholders’ participation had a significant influence on the performance of the KTSP. The study recommends that stakeholders need to involved from project initiation, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation to improve performance of sanitation projects. The study confirms the requirement for stakeholders’ participation in public projects per the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. The study experienced delays in seeking consent from respondents that resulted in the lengthened data collection period.