Stakeholder Communication Management and Performance of Road Infrastructure Projects Developed by KeRRA in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya has invested heavily in road infrastructure to support economic growth and regional development. However, despite increased funding, many road projects continue to experience delays, cost overruns, and quality-related challenges. Previous studies have attributed poor performance of road infrastructure projects to factors such as inadequate funding, weak contractor capacity, poor planning, slow decision-making, and ineffective monitoring and evaluation. Although these factors explain part of the problem, they do not provide a comprehensive understanding of all the determinants of project performance. In particular, limited attention has been paid to the role of communication management, yet effective communication is essential for coordinating stakeholders involved in infrastructure projects. This study, therefore, examined the influence of communication management on the performance of road infrastructure projects developed by the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) in Kiambu County, with a specific focus on stakeholder communication management. The study was guided by Stakeholder Theory and adopted a positivist philosophy together with descriptive and explanatory research designs. The target population consisted of ten completed road projects, involving 80 respondents drawn from KeRRA, the County Government, and contractors, and a census approach was used. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with SPSS version 20. A regression model was applied to test the relationship between stakeholder communication management and project performance. The findings revealed that stakeholder communication management had a positive and statistically significant effect on the performance of road infrastructure projects (R² = 0.435, β = 0.787, p = 0.00 < 0.05). The study concluded that effective stakeholder communication management improves project outcomes. It recommended institutionalizing structured stakeholder communication frameworks, formal feedback mechanisms, and regular stakeholder satisfaction assessments to enhance collaboration and improve the performance of road projects.