Abstract: The Kenyan government and international organizations have continued to invest in the implementation of water development projects to assist the rural communities to alleviate the problem of water scarcity. The performance of these projects is the major problem as they are not successful and falling out of use at an alarming rate. In order to make the investment in implementation of water development projects more effective and worth, success rates of these projects should be increased. The Study examined the factors affecting effective implementation of water projects in Kirinyaga County by focusing on four specific objectives: stakeholder policy factors, beneficiary factors, contractor factors and consultant factors. The study was guided specifically by the following four theories: Stakeholders participation theory, the complexity theory, constraints theory and project management competency theory. The unit of observation was Project managers, assistant project managers and the project supervisors of 40 water projects and the unit of analysis were the 40 water projects implemented in Kirinyaga County for the last four years. The study adopted a census survey design with the respect of the unit of analysis which is the 40 water projects that had been implemented in Kirinyaga County in the last four years. A census was conducted since only 40 projects were studied and a census is applicable when the entire population is small. Data was collected through the use of semi structured questionnaires which were administered to the project manager’s, assistant project managers and project supervisors and analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. A pilot study was conducted to pre-test the validity and reliability of data collection instruments. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Analysis of data was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. Multiple regression model was used to find out the relationship between the independent variables. The analysed results were presented using graphs and tables and qualitatively. The study found that that stakeholder policy factors, beneficiary factors, contractor factors and consultant factors positively and statistically influenced performance of water project implementation in Kirinyaga County. The study recommends that project stakeholders should be incorporated into the project by the team, project managers ought to ensure commitment of project beneficiaries by creating an atmosphere of feeling like they are part of the family of the project implementation team and consultants should provide work plans, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation immediately before commencing on a project. This study will enable the national government to position itself and establish ways in which it can effectively implement water projects as a stakeholder, give insight to effective implementation of water projects in Kirinyaga County, provide necessary information to the water projects construction industry on the factors affecting effective implementation of water projects and the findings of the study can be used as a source of reference for other researchers.
Keywords: water development projects, investment, implementation, Kirinyaga County.
Title: FACTORS AFFECTING EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER PROJECTS IN KIRINYAGA COUNTY, KENYA
Author: PATRICK MWANGI MURIUKI, DR. PATRICK KARANJA NGUGI
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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