Devolved Governance Approach and Improved Service Delivery in Nyamira County, Kenya

Asuma Mariita Nchaga – Adventist University of Africa, Kenya
Murongo Esau – Kampala International University, Uganda
Email: corneliusasuma@gmail.com

Abstract: The difficulty with service delivery remains a hard task to determine amongst devolved governments and as such there are mixed reactions in the implementation of devolution. This paper aimed at analyzing the effect of devolution system of governance on service delivery in Nyamira County, Kenya. Various theories were explored including the Soufflé theory, the social capital theory, The Principal Agent theory and the Accountability theory. The soufflé theory was selected since it gives the best explanation on linkages between various variables of devolved system of governance and how they are related to service delivery. The study took a quantitative approach and adopted a descriptive and correlation research designs to facilitate determination and explanation of variable relationships and used a simple random sample of 154 respondents obtained from a target population of 3,125 employees of Nyamira County. Regression analysis, multiple regression and correlation were run to determine the relationship between resource distribution, citizen participation, accountability and transparency and service delivery. It was found out that devolved system of governance predicts service delivery. The study concludes that devolution devolved system of governance (R-square of 0.482; p value <0.05) has effect on service delivery and can be a crucial model of improving public service delivery in Kenya. The paper recommended that devolved system of governance can be effective model for improving service delivery.