Factors influencing service delivery in Meru County: A case of IMenti South Sub-county

Abstract

The delivery of service in county governments has been growing all over the country after decentralization of service from the National governments to the grass roots. The pattern seems to indicate that many County Governments do not optimally offer adequate service to critical areas due to limitations that arise in the course of their work. The purpose this study was to do an evaluation on the factors influencing public service deliverers in Meru County government in Kenya: A case study of Imenti South sub-county Meru County. The specific objective of the study was to establish the influence of corruption, to determine the influence of workers training, to establish the influence of management of resources and finally to examine the influence of work experience on service delivery in Imenti South Sub- County of Meru County. The study employed a descriptive research design and targeting a population of 175 and a sample size was 122 respondents. Stratified sampling procedure was used to select the respondents for the study. Questionnaires were used to collect data as the data collection instrument. Data was analyzed using SPSS and the presentation of data was done using frequency tables, percentages, mean and standard deviations. Linear progression was also carried out. From the findings, majority of the respondents were employed by the county government, were age bracket of 26-35 years, had academic qualification of a degree and above and had worked in the county between 3-5 years. Findings also indicated that misappropriation of funds and outstanding debts despite budget allocation are key corruption aspects bin the Counties. Further, training should be encouraged to all employees as it helps in skill development and reducing wastages. Results also showed that there was a difference in services offered based on the experience of employees. However, respondents were undecided whether promotions were based on experience or even given based on merits and qualifications. The ANOVA report which assesses the overall significance of the regression model applied in this study indicated that, p<0.05(Sig=0.00) and therefore demonstrated a very high degree of significance thus they were very relevant in explaining service delivery in Meru County. The study recommends that the County government puts strict measures that are adhered to so as to curb the menace of corruption and ensure that all monies disbursed in the County are not misappropriated. Further, transparency in procurement should be enhanced. Also training should be done based on the need of services required thus an assessment is necessary. To ensure that the employees are motivated to work even harder, the study recommends promotions to be carried out based on merits.