DETERMINANTS OF FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY IN COUNTY GOVERNMENTS IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF MOMBASA COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Abstract
In the year 2010, Kenya passed a new constitution which introduced County government. The main purpose was to bring administration and development closer to the people by devolving revenues which would enable county governments to develop its area of jurisdiction. However this has not been the case almost six years down the line. The objective of this study therefore was to investigate the determinants that affect financial transparency in the county government, a case study of Mombasa County Government. The dependent variable in this study was financial transparency while the independent variables included Audit, Accounting policies, financial accounting disclosures and financial management systems. The study was guided by the Agency Theory, The Legitimacy Theory and Peacock and Wiseman Theory. The researcher employed descriptive research design and analytical research design to explain the relationship between the said independent variables and the dependent variable. The target population for the study comprised of one hundred and forty seven employees of Mombasa County Government in finance and administration department out of which one hundred and seven were selected as the sample using a simple random technique. The researcher used both primary and secondary data collection methods. A simple regression analysis was done to determine the relationship between independent variables and the dependent variable. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 23 and results indicated that majority of respondents agreed that financial transparency was affected by auditing, accounting policies, financial accounting disclosure and financial management systems. The study had an overall P-value which less than 0.005 (5%). The regression model summary indicated a coefficient determination R square as 0.612 meaning that 61.2% of the relationship was explained by the identified four variables namely auditing, accounting policy, financial accounting disclosure and financial management systems. The study ANOVA results indicated that the model was significant at F=34.328 , p-value = 0.000, showing that that the overall model was significant and that financial management systems, auditing, accounting policies and financial accounting disclosure significantly affects financial transparency in Mombasa County government
Key terms: Audit, Accounting policies, County Government, Financial accounting disclosures, Financial management systems, Financial transparency
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v5i1.633
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