Factors influencing compliance with Citizens’ Service Charter: a case of National Registration Bureau, Kenya

Abstract

Kenya aims to transition from a developing economy status to middle economy by the year 2030. The country’s efforts to realize this vision are guided by the government’s development blue print, the Vision 2030. Among the instruments embraced by the government to realize this vision is the Citizen Service Charters (CSC). Citizen Service Charters came into being during President Kibaki’s administration and were widely implemented by all the government ministries and departments. The goal of CSC is to improve efficiency, effectiveness and economy in service delivery. In addition, CSC is aimed at ensuring a more responsive to the users and consumers of public services. Despite the wide implementation of CSC, complaints by stakeholders have persisted that government departments are not sensitive and responsive to citizens’ needs, raising concerns in the government service delivery. Moreover, there is paucity of research in relation to factors that affect CSC in Kenya. This study investigated on the factors influencing compliance of Citizens’ Service Charter using the case of National Registration Bureau (NRB), Kenya. Specific objectives of the study were; i) To examine how the organizational structure at the Kenya National Registration Bureau influences compliance of CSC, ii) To investigate how the personnel competencies influence compliance with citizen service charter and iii) To examine how financial resources influence compliance with citizen service charter. The Data was collected from a sample of 100 participants from production centre in Nairobi using a questionnaire with closed and open ended questions. The measurement variables comprised of participants’ awareness and knowledge of CSC, influence on organizational structure factors, level of influence of personnel competency and influence of financial resource. In addition, data on the socio-demographic variables namely; gender, age, education attainment, and length of time an individual had worked with National Registration Bureau were collected. Descriptive statistics (percent frequencies, cross-tabulation) were used to analyze and summarize findings. Excel spreadsheet was used to analyze qualitative data from the open-ended questions to distil key themes. Results obtained indicate that National Registration Bureau’s organizational structure, personnel competency, and financial constraints negatively influence the CSC. Cronbach’s alpha measurement for organizational structure at the Kenya National Registration Bureau influences on compliance with CSC was at 0.77. While significant proportion of the National Registration Bureau’s personnel are employees who have not worked over a long period with the organization, results reveal that the focus of National Registration Bureau short term training still continue to benefit staff who have worked for over five years. Given that majority of the young employees lack high level educational qualifications, focus of short-term training opportunities needs to target recently employees to ensure compliance. Cronbach’s alpha for the personnel competence at the Kenya National Registration Bureau influence on compliance with CSC was at 0.74. While the financial resources influences at the Kenya National Registration Bureau on compliance with CSC Cronbach’s alpha was at 0.89 which means that to a very great extent sufficient resources are needed. The findings of the research have significant implications on National Registration Bureau policy related to compliance with CSC. Studies on other government agencies are needed to design more targeted interventions that can support government agencies in improving service delivery to steer the development of the country’s economy towards the attainment of Vision 2030.