Policy Challenges on the Implementation of Performance Contracting in Counties: A Case of Homa Bay County Government, Kenya

Abstract

Counties in Kenya face a myriad of challenges when it comes to efficient service delivery to the public and the delivery of necessary projects. To solve this, many counties have implemented Performance Contracting as a management tool to ensure efficiency of service delivery and effective resource utilization. Despite the proven benefits of this measure, most counties, such as Homa Bay, still rate poorly on service delivery and the human development index. Based on these arguments, this study sought to determine the policy challenges that affect the implementation of Performance Contracts in Homa Bay County. It was guided by three objectives: to identify the policy challenges affecting the implementation of PC at Homabay Bay County Government in Kenya; to assess the effect of PC implementation strategies in Homa Bay County Government in Kenya; and to determine the effect of policy challenges on the implementation of PC in Homa Bay County Government in Kenya. The study was anchored on three theories: Policy Implementation Theory, Goal-Setting Theory, and Feedback Intervention Theory. The study employed a qualitative research design, and the sample size included 46 county officials purposively sampled from the offices of the Head of County PC, County Secretary, county public service board, sectoral PC coordinators and champions, and members of various PC committees. A structured interview was employed in the data collection process, and thematic analysis of data was employed. Thematic content analysis was employed to analyze the collected data using NVivo Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) software. The study found the main policy challenges to PC implementation in counties to be the use of largely inflexible PC guidelines developed by the national government, constant changes in county budgetary policies, lack of guidelines on choosing PC committee members and the absence of a rewards and sanction policy that factors in PC evaluation results. The study found the county’s PC implementation strategies to include customization of PC guidelines, cascading of targets, use of external PC experts in mainstreaming PC processes and tasking one of the directors in every sector as the PC coordinator for the sector. The established effects of the policy challenges included misalignments between PC guidelines and county needs, PC evaluation and scores not considering proven effect of exogenous factors, resource allocation constraints, ineffective PC committees and reduced motivation among PC implementers. The findings of this study are to inform the decisions of policymakers at both the national and county levels of government on the policy needs for effective implementation of performance contracting at the county level. The findings shall also help county bosses determine the measures necessary to ensure Performance Contracting delivers the intended results in public service delivery and resource utilization. It has also identified and outlined research gaps for future studies. The research recommended the development of flexible PC guidelines for county governments that counties can customize to suit their individual needs and transient circumstances. The study also recommends the creation of a performance contracting directorate at the counties to ensure effective streamlining and implementation of PC in counties. Some of the proposed areas for further research include effect of the dropping of cross-cutting indicators, the use of external experts in PC mainstreaming and rewards and sanctions policy implementation strategies in counties.