Influence of Budgetary Controls on Service Delivery in County Government of Nakuru in Kenya

Abstract

In spite of collecting revenue from their jurisdictions, none of the county governments is financially autonomous. They have to rely on the disbursements from the central government. The general objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of budgetary controls on service delivery in the County Government of Nakuru in Kenya. Of specific focus was the influence of revenue maximization and performance adjustment on service delivery. A crosssectional survey research design was adopted. All the 121 employees working with accounts/finance department of Nakuru County Government comprised the accessible population. Stratified random sampling technique was adopted to draw a sample of 66 respondents from the accessible population. This study used a self-administered, structured questionnaire to collect data. A pilot study was conducted before carrying out the main study. The collected data was analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Data analysis captured both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the analysis were presented in form of tables. The study revealed that budgetary controls influenced service delivery in the County Government of Nakuru. Performance adjustments were found to be the most important in influencing service delivery. The study inferred that the county government has been striving to maximize revenue collection. Revenue maximization and performance adjustments were concluded to be important parameters in improving service delivery. The study recommends that the county government ought to seal all loopholes that funds may be lost while automating revenue collection. These county governments are further advised to be flexible enough in order to adjust their budgets in the wake of unforeseeable macroeconomic effects.