Stakeholder Involvement and Implementation of Projects by Kitui County Government, Kenya

Abstract

Many projects do not meet customer-specific goals and do not address issues that are initially defined within the stated time, cost, scope, and quality requirements. The County of Kitui is also affected by project failure that has been attributed to poor change, risk and quality management as well as stakeholder involvement. The paper sought to determine the effect of stakeholders’ involvement on project implementation by the Kitui County government. The paper adopted a descriptive survey research design, with the target population consisting of 93 projects undertaken by Kitui County government. A census was used and therefore all the projects were included in this paper. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Qualitative information was analyzed using thematic analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings indicated that stakeholders’ involvement had a positive and significant effect on the implementation of projects by Kitui County government. The study recommended that project team members in Kitui County Government ought to be accountable to the stakeholders and this will enhance project success. In addition, project managers should highly involve stakeholders as well as consult them since they provide resources for the running of the project. The project managers should also group the stakeholders according to their levels of participation, interest, and influence on the project.