Factors Affecting Completion of Government Funded Projects, a Survey of Projects in the Ministry of Water and Environment

Abstract

One of the major problems faced by projects is on timely task completion which is the ultimate goal in any project. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting completion of government projects in the Ministry of Water and Environment. The study sought to identify the effects of timeliness of payments of contracts; skills of project manager; political intervention and project planning process on completion of projects in the Ministry of Water and environment. The research design employed in this study was the survey method where the top management in the Ministry of Water and environment were targeted. A sample size of 30 respondents was selected – 15 respondents from Ministry and 15 Contractors who have been engaged in the Ministry’s projects before. The researcher used primary data (questionnaires and interviews) to carry out the study. The questionnaires included structured (close-ended) and unstructured (open-ended) questions. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The descriptive statistical tools helped the researcher to describe the data and the features of data that were of interest. The mode (most commonly attained measurement or value) was used more so to analyse the responses in the questionnaires. This was used as the response/measurement that appears most in a particular question/variable among a sample of subjects. From the findings the researcher concluded that, the success of any projects is dependent on a number of factors which include timeliness of payment which affects completion to a great extent (mean of 3.7), Skills of the project manager moderately influences completion (mean of 3.4), political interferences on the other hand influences completion to a great extent (mean of 3.6) and project planning which influences completion to a moderate extent (mean 3.1). The researcher recommends that though teamwork management is employed to a great extent among the building professionals in Kenya, completion of government projects courses should be incorporated in the training of professional to enhance their skills to higher levels, payment procedures should be simple and well laid down, those involved in projects should be familiarize themselves with dispute resolution procedures, there should be a culture change in our political group and goals should be communicated at commencement of a project.