INFLUENCE OF PROJECT LEADERSHIP ON THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT PROJECTS IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Christabel Mwende Ireri

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya

Dr. Allan Njogu Kihara, PhD

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya

CITATION: Ireri, C. M., & Kihara, A. N. (2018). Influence of Project Leadership on the Successful Completion of County Government Projects in Nairobi County, Kenya. International Journal of Arts and Entrepreneurship. Vol. 7 (11) pp 1 – 23.

ABSTRACT

The new Kenyan constitution introduced devolution which saw development of the county governments across the country. The motive was to take government services close to the people and thus enhance development. In this regard, county governments have been coming up with various projects aimed at delivering service and promoting welfare of the common people. However, despite the tremendous efforts by the county governments to enhance development through these projects, their success has been sabotaged due to factors such as incompetent management, lack of enough funds as well as increased malpractices such as corruption. This has seen many projects by the county governments underperform and others collapse. It is on this background that the study sought to find out the influence of project leadership on successful completion of the county government projects. The study was guided by the specific objectives: To find out the influence of worker engagement on completion of county government projects, to establish the influence of leadership traits on completion of county governments projects, to find out the influence of leadership style on completion of county government projects and to evaluate the influence of leadership competency on completion of county government projects. The study adopted theories to enhance deeper analysis of the variables. The theories included: contingency theory, leadership behavioural theory, leadership trait theory and Resource based theory. The study employed descriptive research design and targeted employees of the Nairobi County in the departments of public works, roads and Transport sector, Public Service management, Education, Youth affairs, culture, children and social services and Health services. The study used a sampling formula and stratified random sampling to obtain 178 respondents. Questionnaires were used to collect the data which was analysed and presented in form of tables and graphs for easier interpretation and understanding. The study used a regression model to examine the influence of project leadership on the successful completion of county government projects in Nairobi County. The study found that worker engagement, leadership style, leadership traits and leadership competency were significantly and positively related to completion of County government projects in Nairobi. This implied that project leadership through the four aspects (worker engagement, leadership style, leadership traits and leadership competency) was key in enhancing successful completion of projects by Nairobi County. The study concluded that project completion was dependent of the leadership offered by the project leaders. The study recommended that project leaders should engage workers as well as being role models so as to steer completion of the projects through promoting employees’ productivity. The findings from the study will be significant to the county government’s project managers who will use them to identify the key areas to focus on in order to enhance performance of the county government projects. Future scholars and researchers will also benefit from the results of the study.

Key Words: Project Leadership, Worker engagement, Leadership style, Leadership traits, Leadership competence, Project completion and Nairobi County.

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