Influences of implementation of public - private partnership projects in Kenya: a case of the Lamu port southern Sudan Ethiopia transport corridor in Lamu county, Kenya.

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to establish the influences of the implementation of PPPs in Kenya. In specific the researcher was to find out the extent to which political interests, financial commitment & disbursements and land compensation rows had influenced the implementation of LAPSSET. The researcher adopted a census type and purposeful sampling whereby all responsible individuals involved in the implementation of the LAPSSET was a respondent. The respondents were drawn from the members from the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, project officers from the KPA, from the NLC, project supervisors from the MOT, field officers from LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, project officers from the ministry of Lands & urban planning, project manager from the county Government of Lamu, executive member in charge of planning from the office of the governor of Lamu county, For PAP, the researcher used a sample from the 75 families of 249 as gazette by NLC ,which represented 30% the PAPs giving a total of 103 respondents. The study collected data using guided interview and a questionnaire which contained both open ended and closed ended questions which were administered in the interview with the target population for consistence and because the target population was relatively small. For validity of the research instruments Pilot testing was done the Mombasa County. The researcher conducted a pilot study for validity and for reliability split half was used to determine the reliability of the instruments. Content analysis was used to analyze the data collected. The findings include 86.77% of the respondents observed that political disagreements had influenced the implementation of the LAPSSET project. Also listed was the lack of a democratic transition from the municipal county council of Lamu to County government of Lamu at 86% and county by-laws at 90% with permit approval rated at 84.3%. 79.38 % of the respondents cited financial commitment and disbursement to have had an influence of the implementation of LAPSSET project. 82.9% of the respondent agreed that the project interest rate were fluctuating and therefore not fixed. 80% of the respondents cited treasury‘s bureaucracy influenced procurement. Financial commitment from the member states was also cited at 74%; causing late deliveries at 92.9% and procurement disputes took 67.14%. 83.14% of the respondents cited land compensation rows to have influenced the implementation of LAPSSET. As 80% of land was community land without clear ownership. 80% of the respondents observe that the lease holders had an influence on the implementation of the project as the renewal of lease difficulties was cited at 77.15% and lack of clear records on land ownership, whether communal or leasehold was also cited and land payment for the annexed acres for the project was 95.71%. Recommendations include: Civic education to be done by the state agencies on the importance of PPPs in the service provision, the impact of delayed implementation of the project. The re-organization of the archives of the agencies that deal with lands and natural resources to restore confidence of the public and the legal documents being issued. Make the renewal of leases that are issued genuinely online .This will not only make the whole process relatively cheaper but also reduce the physical verification of the authenticity of the document that invites corruption. Make mandatory requirement for sum of money deposits with the implementation bodies to avoid a situation where the project miscellaneous requirements are met to ensure that the project implementation can continue as minor procurements are met without any strain. In conclusion, it became apparent that for successful project implementation of PPPs, political interest must be neutralized for the interest of the delivery from the PPPs, financial commitments and disbursements must be streamlined to ensure timely procurements and land must be identified and cleared in time to avoid any controversies. The study was carried out in Lamu County, Kenya.