INFLUENCE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY POLICIES ON PERFORMANCE OF THE DEVOLVED SYSTEM OF COUNTY GOVERNMENTS: WAJIR COUNTY, KENYA

Ali Khalif, Samuel Nyangau

Abstract


Devolvement has been promoted as a political response to conflicts, administrative inefficiencies, corruption, economic stagnation, inefficient use of public resource and other ills that characterize centralized governments. In spite of the development of various County Information and Communication Technology policies made to reverse past inequalities through good governance and equitable development, six years into the devolution system in Kenya, there are only a few reported success stories. The study sought to evaluate the effect of Information and Communication Technology policies on performance of devolved system within Wajir County, Kenya. Descriptive research design was used during the study. Moreover, target population was 140 personnel working in the five departments and 30 Members of County Assembly in Wajir County. Slovin's Formula was utilized to establish the sample size. In this study, the sample size was 119. Both primary as well as secondary data was adopted in this study. Secondary data was retrieved from Wajir County government yearly reports. Questionnaires and key informant interviews were utilized in this research study to collect data. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation as well as frequency distribution was deployed to analyze research data. This includes the percentages, standard deviation as well as mean. Inferential statistics (regression and correlation analysis) was computed with the help of the SPSS (24) to draw conclusions based on the surveyed data that was collected. All qualitative data gathered during the study was analyzed through content analysis and presented descriptively. The quantitative results of the study were presented in tables, graphs as well as pie charts. The study found that Information and Communication Technology Policy has positive as well as significant influence on performance of the devolved system in Wajir County. The study recommends that national government through policy makers should revise the Information and Communication Technology Policy to ensure continuous use of e-procurement so as to improve financial transaction between suppliers and county government. In addition, the County government should carry out a thorough research on issues related to Information and Communication Technology so as to access recent information on Information and Communication Technology projects that will acts as a guide towards the development of modern Information and Communication Technology infrastructure.

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References


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