ICTs and Financial Management in Local Authorities in Kenya: Case Study of Mavoko and Nyeri Municipal Councils
Poor financial management and engagement of citizens in council affairs
Abstract
The research is limited to an examination of the Local Authorities Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS). Local authorities face a number of governance problems, in particular financial governance. Financial base and management is the backbone of any institution, and financial management in local authorities affects literally all the mandated services that local authorities provide. The poor financial management in local authorities is largely due to the poor revenue and expenditure documentation and tracking. This shortcoming has resulted in unpaid land rates and bills, and has been exploited by the local authority officials and service consumers. It has further attracted corrupt practices as officers and consumers collude to distort bills and meter readings in cases of water supply. In most cases, the records are never readily available and in cases where they are available they are difficult to access and often not correct. The few honest consumers take months and years to have their billing issues investigated and concluded.
It is assumed that an efficient use of ICT has potential of reversing the trend of ineffective governance and improving participation, transparency, accountability, responsiveness, effectiveness and efficiency. This study will interrogate this assumption with an ultimate goal of informing policy and practice in local authorities in Kenya. The overall research objective is to assess the influence of implementing the integrated financial management system on local governance in two local authorities.
Team Leader
Prof. Winnie Mitullah
Institute for Development Studies
University of Nairobi
e-mail: wvmitullah@swiftkenya.com
Research Team
Prof. Timothy M. Waema
School of Computing and Informatics
University of Nairobi
e-mail: waema@uonbi.ac.ke, twaema@kenet.or.ke
Research Assistant
Mr. Samuel Balongo
M.Sc. student, School of Computing and Informatics, University of Nairobi
Institution
Institute for Development Studies (IDS)
University of Nairobi