EFFECT OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION STRATEGIES ON ACHIEVEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN BARINGO COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

The participation of members of the public in government development programmes is enshrined in the Kenyan constitutions. The participation is not just mere appearance in project deliberations meetings but to be involved in all aspects of the project from initiation to completion. Poor achievement of sustainable development agenda in the county of Baringo has resulted to increased poverty level, increased illiteracy level, increased health risks challenges, insecurity, household income per day being below 1 USD, devastating natural occurrences (flooding of Lakes Baringo and Bogoria, famine, hunger) and poor road network access continues to be experienced. The aim of this paper was to determine the effect of public participation strategies towards achievement of sustainable development in Baringo County. The study was conducted in the six sub counties of Baringo involving sampled residents and sub county administrators. The study was anchored on concurrent triangulation design that allowed collection of quantitative and qualitative data. Data was collected through use of questionnaire and interview guide. Analysis of data has been done using descriptive, inferential statistics and thematic content analysis. The research found out that there was minimal participation of Baringo residents in development initiatives. The county government of Baringo at times shared (M=2.61, SD=1.25) information on socio-economic projects being implemented in the county on occasional basis. Correlation statistics computed showed a weak positive relationship (r=0.288) between public participation practices and sustainable development in Baringo County, Kenya. The paper concludes that public participation practices strategies were not regularly used, and this contributed to slow achievement of sustainable developmental targets in the study area. The paper recommends that if the county of Baringo is to realise its county integrated development plans goals, public participation should be the key strategy towards achievement. This means that public participation should be at the core of any sustainable development initiative and hence Baringo county government needs to be keen on this practice. Article visualizations: