Abstract:
The main objective of this study was to assess the effects of community engagement at different project
phases on projects sustainability. To achieve this, the study specifically investigated the effect of engaging
the community during the planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation phases of project
management towards achieving sustainability. Data was collected from 200 different people who had been
involved with JKUAT sponsored community projects. This represented 10% of the entire population. Case
study research design was applied. Primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaire while
secondary data was collected from JKUAT’s annual reports, journals, books, researches, thesis, dissertations,
articles, working papers, and the internet. Data was collected by drop and pick method. The questionnaire
were evaluated for content validity and reliability. Data presentation was done using Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS) software. From the findings, it was deduced that the community was not fully involved
in all the stages of projects development. In the project planning phase, the respondents indicated minimal
involvement where a majority of the respondents disagreed in community engagement in the identification of
community based projects. In the project implementation stage, majority of the respondents disagreed on
involvement of the community in the coordination of the project activities. The findings also indicated lack of
community engagement in the evaluation and monitoring stage which was evidenced by the fact that most
of the respondents disagreed that the community formed the evaluation team and helped develop the
performance indicators. The study concluded that sustainability had neither been mainstreamed nor
prioritized in each phase. It was recommended that there was need for community members to identify their
own needs, analyze the factors that lead to the needs, and draw up community action plans and schedules to
address the needs. The study also recommended that before the implementing parties commence on the
project, there should be exhaustive and detailed approach to mainstream and prioritize project sustainability
in all the phases with specific steps deliberately taken to entrench long-term project benefits.
