Influence of Devolution Framework on Democratic Governance Process in Kenya

Abstract

Devolution framework in Kenya is anchored in article 174 of the Constitution which espouses the relationships where political, administrative and fiscal power is distributed to semi-autonomous territorial and sub-national units which seek to promote accountability, transparency, responsiveness and legitimacy in a state. For this to be achieved, the devolution framework borrows heavily on the objects of the Kenyan Constitution of 2010. To operationalize devolution framework, the study identifies some of the constitutional key indicators of devolution, namely, devolved units, public participation, capacity building, social equity and legal framework to measure the relationship between the devolution framework and democratic governance indicators. The devolution framework in Kenya promised a structural architecture of power relations that engenders democratic governance tenets of transparency, accountability and open governance. The objectives of the study were; to establish the influence of decentralized units on enhancing democratic governance, to establish the influence of public participation on enhancing democratic governance, to determine the influence of capacity building on democratic governance, to establish the influence of social equity on enhancing democratic governance and to establish the influence of legal framework in enhancing democratic governance.The study adopted descriptive and correlation research design. All the forty-seven (47) counties in Kenya were targeted, with five officers per counties forming the sample frame. Regression models were used to examine the influence of the devolution framework on democratic governance in Kenya. The study found that there was a positive relationship between decentralized units and democratic governance, a positive relationship between public participation and democratic governance, a positive relationship between capacity building and democratic governance, a positive relationship between social equity and democratic governance, a positive relationship between legal framework and democratic governance and since the coefficient of intersection was significant, it implied that the political interest had a moderating effect on the relationship between devolution framework and democratic governance. This study addresses the existing knowledge gap by determining the effect of devolution framework on democratic governance process in Kenya is not direct but rather is through devolved units, capacity building, public participation, social equity and legal framework, and further political interest have moderating effect on the relationship between devolution framework on democratic governance process in Kenya. The findings of this study therefore have implications for theory, practice and policy.