INFLUENCE OF PROJECT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT ON COMPLETION OF PUBLIC PROJECTS IN KENYA: A CASE OF MAKUENI CONSTITUENCY

Abstract

In developing countries, national and regional governments, local and international NGOs and other concerned organizations invest large sums of money every year for the implementation of public projects However, in Kenya, public projects are characterized with low or poor completion and do not meet their objectives if they fail after a short time. In order to make the investment in public projects more effective, failure rates of these systems should be reduced. It has been observed that failure by communities and other stakeholders to take up ownership of public projects have plunged these projects into immense financial huddles threatening their completion and consequently to seize operations. Community issues such as perceived lack of ownership, lack of education on public projects, poor management systems and limited demand are related to low completion rates of public projects. Completion of public projects is the major problem as they are not successful and fall out of use at an alarming rate. The study examined the influence of project life cycle management on completion of public projects in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research approach which involved target population of 131 projects and a census survey design was used to collect primary data. The data was analyzed by quantitative methods with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. It is notable that there exists a strong positive relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable as shown by R value (0.898). Additionally, project planning, execution and closure phases in project life cycle management are positively correlated. The study recommends that during the project initiation phase there is need to carry out problem identification, funding and costing to increase the completion of public projects. In addition, there study recommends that during the project planning phase, there is need to have resource plan, stakeholder plan. The study established that time, cost and quality management influence completion of public projects. Finally, the study established to a great extent that the communication reporting through documentation of project activities, release of projects resources and decision making on planning, promotion and training of the project beneficiaries. A comparative study should be carried out to compare whether the findings also apply for projects in other organizations in order to validate whether the findings can be generalized in Kenya. Additionally, the study did not tie the drivers as the only determinants of project life cycle management. Thus, there is need to undertake further research to examine other factors which could influence completion of public projects in Kenya.