Stakeholder Engagement and Delivery of Devolved Services. Evidence from Kenyan Devolution System

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to determine effect of stakeholders’ engagement on delivery of devolved services in selected counties Kenya. The study was anchored on system theory. Employing blended research design and positivism approach, the study used structured and open-ended questionnaires to collect data from 384 drawn from a population of 35,444 staff from 8 counties. Findings from regression model showed that stakeholder engagement have significant and positive effect on devolved service delivery. Thus, stakeholder engagement has the potential to improve devolved service delivery. It not only improves communication but it also enhances legitimacy and provides more sustainable decision for the management of natural resources. There is need for the county governments to ensure hire level of participation and ownership of stakeholders. Specifically, stakeholders can be involved in all the policy processes right from problem formulation, agenda setting to implementation in an attempt to reduce resistance