ADMINISTRATIVE RELATIONS, RESOURCE MOBILIZATION, AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN KENYAN COUNTIES – International Journal of Social Sciences and Management Review

ADMINISTRATIVE RELATIONS, RESOURCE MOBILIZATION, AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN KENYAN COUNTIES

Authors: Dedan Luvaga & Mfonka Abdoulaye

ABSTRACT

The constitution of Kenya 2010 sets a point of departure in intergovernmental relations. It brings about the national government and counties, thus a two-level government system in Kenya. Articles 6(2) and 189 emphasize that the two levels of government must consult, cooperate, and coordinate instead of competing under a cooperative form of devolution. However, lack of consultation, minimal cooperation, and inadequate coordination results in competition and supremacy battles on resource allocation and utilization. This jeopardizes a cooperative modus operandi of devolution. This paper evaluates Kenyan counties’ administrative relations, resource mobilization, and service delivery. It is underpinned by the Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) by Zald & McCarthy (1977).

A cross-sectional design is used since it relies on questionnaires, structured interviews, and observations to gather data. A survey research strategy is applied, and a mixed method that integrates qualitative and quantitative data components is used at both the data collection and analysis stages. Data is collected from multiple groups of respondents: the national and county governments, the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, and the general public. A sample of 400 is used to gather quantitative data using questionnaires, while qualitative data is collected via structured interviews from a sample of 16 key informants. The quantitative and qualitative data are analyzed using SPSS and deductive thematic analysis, respectively.

The general results show that if administrative relations are altered by 1%, the overall delivery of services will shift by 30.6%, indicating that administrative relations positively affect service delivery within the county governments in Kenya. Administrative relations enhance strategic management within counties, as indicated by 63.6% respondent approval, and enhance performance and resource management in counties with a (56.4%) approval rate. On the contrary, 61.1% of respondents relate to battling inequalities, while (64.1%) criticized that democratic values and trust among citizens and leaders have not yet been attained. The study concludes that counties and the national government have failed to reflect positively on the pivotal principles of democracy, such as citizen participation, political tolerance, equality, transparency, and accountability that drive effective administrative relations. Despite these results, the paper recommends addressing decision-making, recruitment, and contractual autonomy in counties.

Keywords: Administrative relations, Resource mobilization, Service delivery Administrative Relations, Resource Mobilization, and Service Delivery in Kenyan Counties.

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