Determinants Of Citizen Participation In Devolved Governance In Kenya; A Case Study Of Machakos County

Abstract

Devolution is mainly associated with decentralization of power and sharing national resources among county. Despite the centrality of public participation in ensuring good governance, studies reveal that there is an information gap on the devolved structures and what constitutes devolution in the Kenyan context. This study therefore seeks to assess the determinants of citizen participation in devolved governance in the Country. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to establish the nature of citizen participation in devolved governance, to find out institutional factors influencing citizen participation in devolved governance, to determine individual factors influencing their participation in devolved governance and the socio-cultural factors influencing their participation in devolved governance. The study adopted the use of exploratory research design. The target population for the study was members of the public (18 years and above), members of the County assembly and ministers in County Government. Stratified sampling technique was used to group the population into constituencies. Purposive sampling was used to sample the participants for the study. This study was carried out in seven constituencies where one was used for piloting. A total of 182 respondents were targeted by the study (constituting 168 members of the public, 8 MCAs and 6 ministers) out of which 107 responded (members of the public, 6 MCAs and 5 ministers) giving a response rate of 64%.