A Critical Analysis of Strategies of Governance and Possible Ways of Improvement in the Arid and Semi Arid Lands of Kenya

Abstract

In a country as culturally diverse as Kenya, where the historical experience of its peoples has not been uniform, and where regional disparities in human development persist, a tailored policy response is needed. Recognition of this reality lies behind the formation of the new Ministry of State and Ethics. Moreover, regional and national concerns are indivisible (G.O.K, 2008). This study focused on the dynamics of governance strategies in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands(ASAL) in Kenya which has experienced diverse challenges and looked at ways of improving governanacestrategies in the ASAL regions .This study was  guided by the high performance management approach to strategic Human Resource Management as developed by Boko et.al (2007) and  adopted an Ex-post-facto survey design. A total of 315respondents were  sampled from 20 secondary schools, 60 primary schools, 40 Non Governmental Organizations, and 20 Community Based Organisations and the respondents were the Principals/managers, Deputies and Heads of departments/sections Data was collected using the interview schedule, questionnaires, focus group discussion and document analysis. Analysis was by both descriptive and inferential statistics.The findings of this study has not only contributed to knowledge, but could also assist the Ministry of Education, policy makers and school managers refine the Governance and Ethics strategies that could lead to the development of Kenya.

Keywords: Governance, Strategies, Arid and Semi Arid Lands, Regional disparity