Monitoring and Evaluation Practices and Performance of National Government Road Construction Projects in Kisumu County

Abstract

Performance of national government road construction projects face different challenges that are endemic to different regions of the world. Some of the best ancient roads were reportedly build in mediaeval times with crude technology but have passed the test of time. There has been technological evolution on road construction in different parts of the world with Chinese being credited to be more successful in the recent times with phenomenal technology in Asia which they have spread to other continents of the world. Performance of national government road construction projects in Kisumu County has been low as countable road construction projects in the county do take longer than scheduled time Thus, the general objective was to investigate the influence of M&E Practices and performance of National Government Road Construction Projects: in Kisumu County. The four specific objective that guided the study were: to assess the extent to which M&E planning influences performance of national government road construction projects; to establish how M&E training influences performance of national government road construction projects in Kisumu County; to determine how communication of M&E results influences performance of national government road construction projects; and to examine the influence of utilization of M&E findings on performance of national government road construction projects in Kisumu County. This study will anchor two theories: The General Systems Theory and Theory of Change and adopted cross-sectional survey design. The study’s target population was 249. Based on Yamane (1967), the sample size for this study was 154. The main tool of data collection for this study was questionnaire and interview schedule. Pilot testing was done with 16 questionnaires administered in Kakamega County. Split-half technique was applied to enforce reliability. To the host communities and project beneficiaries, the findings, if implemented would ensure successful completion thus derives intended benefits from the project. Data was analysed to determine inferential statics of regression and correlation analyses and descriptively for mean, SD, percentages and frequencies and results presented in Tables. The study reported that; M&E planning is significant in influencing Performance of national government road construction projects with correlation coefficients of (r=0.436; P0.000) and composite mean and S.D 3.20; 1.292; M&E training is significant in influencing Performance of national government road construction projects with (r=0.261; P0.002) correlation coefficients of and composite mean and S.D 2.293; 1.353; communication of M&E results is significant in influencing Performance of national government road construction projects with correlation coefficients of (r=0.2761; P0.003) and composite mean and S.D 3.18; 1.396; utilization of M&E findings is significant in influencing performance of national government road construction projects with correlation coefficients of (r=0.604; P0.000) and composite mean and S.D 3.34; 1.268. The study established a fairly poor performance of national government road construction projects as delineated by a composite mean and S.D of 2.39 and 1.357. The study then concluded that M&E processes are significant and positively influences implementation of national road construction projects. The study recommended M&E processes to comprehensively integrated in the national road construction project phases for better performance.