| dc.description.abstract | County Assemblies are obligated by the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and other statutes to discharge crucial mandates in county governments. They apply and adopt various strategies to facilitate improvement on their performance. Managerial ties and citizen participation are some of the strategies which the county assemblies in Kenya have adopted in course of discharge of their mandate. These ties have been found to impact on their performance. Hence, the aim of the study was to examine the influence of managerial ties on performance of County assemblies. The moderating effect of citizen participation on this relationship was included in the study. Specifically, the influence of social ties, institutional ties, and political ties on the performance of county assemblies was assessed. The moderating effect of citizen participation on the relationship between managerial ties and performance was also examined. A descriptive survey research design was applied in the study. Census was used to identify 138 respondents from County assemblies. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Hypotheses were tested at 5 % level of significance. It was found that managerial ties significantly explained variation in (F (3, 94) = 7.251, p < 0.001). Further, institutional ties and social ties had a significant influence on performance of county assemblies. Institutional ties: t = -2.815, p < 0.05; Social ties: t = 2.063, p < 0.05) while the influence of political ties was insignificant (political ties: t =0.816, p > 0.05). Further, citizen participation did not have a statistically significant moderating effect. This is because the interaction term was insignificant (interaction term: t =0.024, p = 0.981 > 0.05) on the relationship between managerial ties and performance. Instead, citizen participation had a mediating effect on the relationship between managerial ties and performance of county assemblies in Kenya. It was also found that institutional ties negatively affected the odds for performance (Wald = 7.592, df = 1, p = .006 < .05), and social ties had a positive significant) influence on the odds for performance. The Wald = 2.813, df = 1, p = .094, exp. (B) = 1.857, p <.1). However, the influence of political ties was not significant (Wald = 0.155, df = 1, p = .694, exp (B) = 1.126). Based on these findings it was concluded that performance of county assemblies is moderate hence the need to enhance performance. The study recommended that county assemblies improve on their social ties by reviewing them to ensure that they do not negatively affect their performance. Citizen participation also needs to be strengthened since it mediated the relationship between managerial ties and performance. In conclusion, managerial ties characterized by social ties, political ties and citizen participation have positive effects while institutional ties have negative effects on performance of county assemblies in Kenya. | en_US |
