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385

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 3

Publication Date: March 25, 2021

DOI:10.14738/assrj.83.9469.

Korir, J. K., Kyalo, D. N., Mbugua, J. (2021). Community Participation in Project Planning: A panacea to improved Performance of

Community Water Supply Projects in Kericho County, Kenya. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(3) 385-418.

Community Participation in Project Planning: A panacea to

improved Performance of Community Water Supply Projects in

Kericho County, Kenya

Justus K. Korir

PhD Candidate, University of Nairobi

Dorothy N. Kyalo

Senior Lecturer, University of Nairobi, Department of Open Learning

John Mbugua

Senior Lecturer, University of Nairobi, Department of Open Learning

ABSTRACT

This article sought to investigate the influence of community

participation in project planning on the performance of community

water supply projects in Kericho County, Kenya. The indicators used to

assess this included community participation in; Scope planning,

Activity planning and Resource planning. The study adopted

descriptive survey design and correlation research design. The

descriptive survey design was used to describe characteristics of the

population being studied whilst a correlational research was used to

describe the degree to which variables under the study were related.

The target population comprised 8369 people from which a sample of

382 was considered and out of which 310 responded. The sample

comprised of household heads, management committee members and

sub-County water officers. The research instruments for this study

were: questionnaires, focus group discussion and interview schedules.

Stratified proportional sampling, random sampling and census

techniques were used to collect primary qualitative and quantitative

data. The data was compiled, given codes and input into SPSS version

25 computer program for statistical analysis and presentation. The

study findings showed that community participation in scope planning

(R=0.580, p=0.00<0.05, R2=0.334), activity planning (R=0.538,

p=0.00<0.05, R2=0.288) and resource planning (R=0.511, p=0.00<0.05,

R2=0.259) are significant explanatory variables with respect to project

performance at 95% confidence level. Therefore, the study concluded

that the community should be encouraged to actively participate more

during the planning process in order to enhance the performance of

their community water supply projects. In this regard, the study

recommends that policies to facilitate the structured participation of

the community could be enacted to guarantee participation and hence

improve the performance of community water supply project.

Key Words: Project Planning, scope Planning, Activity Planning, Resource

Planning, Project Performance, Community participation

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 3, March-2021

INTRODUCTION

More than 1 billion people in the developing world are currently unable to access clean and fresh

water from a reliable source on a daily basis. This trend is more prevalent among the rural

communities in the developing world [1]. Water is undoubtedly essential for life and no living

thing can survive without it. This is the reason why ensuring access to safe and reliable drinking

water is a concern throughout the developing world as noted by [2]. The availability of clean and

safe drinking water in adequate quantities is further recognized as a fundamental human right in

Kenya. This is well articulated in the fourth schedule of the Kenyan Constitution on rights and

fundamental freedoms of every citizen [3]. This means that every citizen in every community has

the right to have access to safe and clean water in adequate quantities to meet their basic daily

needs. In reality though, many people still have difficulty gaining this access to safe and clean

water especially among rural communities. Among the steps taken by the Kenyan government to

ameliorate this problem was to recognize role of the communities in the management of rural

water supplies. This was first described in the Sessional Paper No. 1 of 1999 on National Policy for

Water Resources Management and Development. The paper recognized the involvement of

communities in project development in all stages including planning, implementation and

operation and maintenance in light of the changing economic conditions and the increasing

burden to government. The paper recommended a myriad of institutional steps to be taken in

order to facilitate the role of the communities in the operation and maintenance of rural water

supplies. Increasing the participation of the communities in project planning and development

was one of the steps that was intended to create a sense of ownership of the projects by the

communities. Although challenges remain, these reforms by the Kenyan government succeeded in

moving towards good governance, accelerated services, overall higher performance and

adherence to human rights standards in water supply services delivery [4].

Existing literature depicts a strong link between project planning and project success. A summary

of the available studies shows unexpectedly consistent empirical results for the correlation

between project planning and success [5]. The results show an average of R2 = 0.34 for overall

project success. But what exactly is planning? Planning has been defined differently by many

scholars such as Mintzberg in [6] who defined planning as the effort to formalize decision-making

activities through decomposition, articulation, and rationalization. Another definition of planning

is “what comes before action” [7]. Nevertheless, many other scholars [8, 9] generally concluded

that planning process is an important aspect to improved project performance. The dominant

discourse according to these scholars is that the time spent on planning activities tend to reduce

risk and increase the chances of project success. On the other hand, inadequate planning has been

attributed to failed projects [10]. These goes a long way to underscore the importance of planning

in the success of a project. Another benefit of planning in the improvement of performance has

been identified as that of allocation of resources - physical, financial and human resources. For

each task of the planning phase, the necessary resources and timeframe can be determined to

ensure effective implementation and control of the subsequent execution process of the project.

When doing this, the critical path activities can be taken into account. This is because giving to

activities of less significance illustrates poor judgement” [11]. The planning phase has been

identified as being relatively prominent compared to other phases in the project lifecycle and has

been known to have a remarkable influence on project success [12]. From a project management

perspective, it has been argued that a successful project should fulfill the following criteria

according to [13]: completed within the planned time and cost; implemented at the specified

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Korir, J. K., Kyalo, D. N., Mbugua, J. (2021). Community Participation in Project Planning: A panacea to improved Performance of Community Water Supply

Projects in Kericho County, Kenya. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(3) 385-418.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.83.9469 387

levels of project performance; delivered according to project stakeholder needs and expectations;

and completed within the defined and agreed scope. Previous studies suggested that organization

should improve the performance by focusing on the planning [14].

Project planning is widely acknowledged by experts as a significant contributor to improved

project performance and therefore planning recognizes key stakeholders as the key project's

successes enablers. However, little has been done when it comes to the specific influence of each

of the participatory project planning components and with regard to their combined and

individual contributions to improved performance, especially in developing countries such as

Kenya. Although planning does not guarantee success, lack of planning will most definitely

guarantee failure. On the other hand, inadequate planning will most likely lead to a failed project

according to scholars such as [10, 15]; who stated that Plans are a cornerstone of any project and

consequently, planning is the dominant activity within a project context. This is a recurring theme:

planning is inherently important to project success or one could even argue that project

management would not exist. The primary indicators of improved project performance according

to [16] included successful projects basically rely on successful practices of project management

in regard to planning, implementation and cost, time and quality achievements. Nevertheless, [17]

noted the increasing recognition by the developing countries that community participation in

planning of water supply projects is a fundamental strategy in a reliable water supply system to

the communities. The main advantage of this approach according to them is that participation

inculcates a sense of ownership and the benefits of the projects are more likely to extend over the

long term. This means that the community members have full control over the project even into

the long term.

The idea of community management has been widely accepted in the international development

sub-sector and is currently being implemented in the vast majority of community water supply

projects and programs in sub-Saharan Africa [18]. This concept of community participation has

also been recognized as the foundation upon which the success of a project is anchored on. It has

become the prevalent model for management of rural water supplies throughout sub-Saharan

Africa. Nevertheless, but the question still remains what exactly is participation? According to [19]

participation is “a mechanism whereby stakeholders influence and share control over

development projects, the decisions and resource that impact directly on them”. This concept of

community participation first emerged in some parts of Africa and Asia about 40 years ago from

the colonial era approach to community development. To the colonial rulers, the community

development was a way of improving the welfare of the locals, educating the local people and

increasing government control through self-help projects [19]. However, this policy failed to

achieve many of goals during this era, primarily because of the top-down bureaucratic approach

adopted by the colonial administrators [19]. Community participation is usually more effective

when the community shoulders much of the responsibility than when public agencies seek to

assess the community preferences through surveys or public meetings [20]. In order for

community participation to work, projects must include special components. Villagers can be

recruited to help in all phases of designing, implementing, maintaining, supervising, and

evaluating new water supply systems, but only if the time, effort and money is spent to do it right.

Special attention must be paid to the development of local committees and governance structures

that can adequately oversee local participation. This framework has been largely accepted by