Influence Of Monitoring And Evaluation Strategy On The Implementation Of Government Projects. A Case Study Of Vision 2020 Umurenge Projects (Vup); Rwanda.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of monitoring and evaluation strategy on implementation of government projects; (A case study of Vision 2020 Umurenge Projects-VUP). The objectives of the study were: to determine how the strength of  monitoring and evaluation team influences the implementation of Vision 2020 Umurenge projects, to establish how management support influences the implementation of Vision 2020 Umurenge projects, to examine how clarity of scope in monitoring and evaluation influences the implementation of Vision 2020 Umurenge projects and to determine how frequency of meetings with stakeholders influences the implementation of Vision 2020 Umurenge projects.Descriptive survey design was used. The target population of this research was 164 respondents including 144 VUP staff, 4 VUP directors and 16 beneficiaries of the Vision 2020 Umurenge project (VUP). The study adopted a descriptive survey design and relied on data collected through a questionnaire structured to meet the objectives of the study. Descriptive statistics was used to show the trend between the variables. Frequency tables, Chi square tables and percentages were used to describe, organize, and summarize collected data. The variables were subjected to correlation analysis and the Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze data. The ethical issues related to the study were addressed by maintaining a high level of confidentiality of the information given by the respondents. All the factors had a significant p-value (p<0.05) at 95% confidence level. Strength of monitoring and evaluation team, management support influence, clarity of the scope in M&E and frequency of meetings with the stakeholders was 0.018, 0.031, 0.024 and 0.046 respectively. At the end of the study, the findings were that 46% of the respondents felt that the strength of the M&E team is influential to the implementation of VUP. In addition, the study revealed that 35% of the respondents felt that management support influenced the implementation of VUP projects. A further 24% of the respondents indicated that clarity of an M&E scope influenced implementation of VUP projects to a very great extent. It is imperative that management supports the M&E team to achieve the desired goals. A clear scope of work makes planning easy and provides a clear guideline for the M&E team. 46% of the respondents stated that a clear scope of work influences the implementation of VUP projects to a very great extent. Another 34% indicated that it influences by a great extent. Finally, many respondents (58%) attested to the fact that frequency of meetings with stakeholders influences the implementation of VUP project by a very great extent.The study recommended that there is need to include all stakeholders in each stage of the project M&E as they play an active role since they are the consumers of the project for the sake of sustainability. Cooperation of stakeholders should also be encouraged. All the stakeholders need to be clearly identified and their requirements documented. Each of the stakeholders’ requirements needs to be prioritized and focus placed on those that are most critical to success and adequate funding needs to be devoted to the implementation of M&E practices for its potential to be realized in a project because insufficient financing is a major factor for poor maintenance which, in turn, is often cited as a reason for project failure.

Key words: monitoring and evaluation team, management support, clarity of scope, meetings with stakeholders Vision 2020 Umurenge projects.