Effect of E-Governance Pillars on Service Delivery in Decentralized Governments: Case Study of Machakos County in Kenya

Abstract

E-governance has gained a lot of interest in the recent years as one of the ways of improving service provision as economies have transformed from agricultural, industrial to information and knowledge based. Effective application of E-governance requires consideration of four factors; ICT (knowledge management systems), processes, resources and people. This research assesses these factors in the context Machakos County in Kenya. The research adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches using structured questionnaires and key informant interviews with residents, business persons and employees in Machakos county. The results indicated that a lot of county government services were computerized and could be accessed or provided electronically though the county government had not put enough resources in place for its full implementation and sustenance. The time taken to provide and access county government services had significantly reduced compared to when the services were being offered manually. Most respondents owned phones and had access to the internet yet there were those who said they did not know that county services were electronically offered. This calls for sensitization and training for all county stakeholders on the benefits associated with the use of E-government.