Impact of Performance Contracting on Public Service Delivery in the National Government Administration in Kenya: Case of Eldoret West Sub-County

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to assess the impact of performance contracting on public service delivery, in the National Government Administration, Eldoret West Sub-County.  The study examined the effect of financial stewardship, human resource management and the role of resolution of public complaints on service delivery. Two theories informed this study: The New Public Management Theory and the Principal Agent Theory. Descriptive survey research design was utilized. The target population constituted members of the public who consume public services provided by the 63 National Government Administrative officers in Eldoret West Sub-County (NGAO), 19 Heads of Departments and officials from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). A sample size of 170 respondents was selected using quota sampling technique. Both primary and secondary data were collected. Data analysis and management was done by use of SPSS Version 21 and MS Excel. The gamma measure of association between financial stewardship and service delivery was +0.5. This is a moderate strength pointing to the existence of other factors that drive service delivery. The spearman’s Rank Order measure of correlation (rs) between human resource management and service delivery was +0.67. This indicates moderate association, hence a clear pointer to a combination of other factors driving service delivery. There was minimal variability across the various dimensions of complaints handling mechanisms and their effect on improving service delivery. It was therefore recommended that National Government Administration need to continuously build capacity on both its officers and members of the public on the financial accountability framework, tie human resource management and development practices to other policies as well as engage and sensitize members of the public on performance contracting process and complaints handling mechanisms.