INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS, ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN SELECTED COUNTY GOVERNMENTS, KENYA

Abstract

The Kenyan public finance management arena still faces a variety of issues that are not in accordance with ithe iprinciples iof ipublic ifinance, despite the fact that over the past six years, robust legal and institutional frameworks for Public Finance Management (PFM) have been put in place. Misuse of public money has been a persistent problem at the county level due to inefficient accounting systems and inadequate controls, which has impeded service delivery and the overall effectiveness of county governments. Despite the lack of empirical evidence, theoretical literature has cited organizational resources as a moderator between IFMIS and financial performance. iThe istudy's ioveral objective was to identify the extent to which Kenyan county governments' usage of the Integrated iFinancial iManagement iInformation iSystem, available organizational resources, and established financial management practices are related. The study's main objective was ito iassess ithe icontribution of the integrated iFinancial iManagement iInformation iSystem to the financial management of Kenya's county governments. The study also aimed to evaluate the same question in terms of the Integrated iFinancial iManagement iInformation iSystem budgeting system, revenue system, and payment system. Research was also conducted to determine the role that organizational resources play in the relationship between an Integrated iFinancial iManagement iInformation iSystem and sound financial management practices in Kenya's county administrations. In this study, both a causal research design and a descriptive survey approach were used. The target population was 302 workers working in the Treasury Department of the county governments of Kakamega, Busia, Vihiga, and Bungoma. 44 Procurement officers, 46 auditors, 89 accountants, 87 financial officers, and 42 revenue collectors were counted. The 172 participants were chosen through stratified random sampling. Data collection was through questionnaires. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure the reliability of the data after a pilot study was conducted to check for content and construct validity. Analysis was conducted using descriptive and inferential statistics. Inferential analysis included correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis, while descriptive analysis was used to analyse the data into frequency, mean, standard deviation, and percentage. The threshold of significance used in the testing of hypotheses was 0.05. Data was presented in tables, and several models were developed. The findings indicated that Integrated iFinancial iManagement iInformation iSystem substantially accounted for 64.2% of the difference in financial management across the County Governments in Western Kenya (R2 = 0.642, P = 0.000). Change in (R2 = 0.043, p = 0.001) indicates that organizational resources have a significant moderating ieffection ithe irelationship between Integrated iFinancial iManagement iInformation iSystem and financial management. This implies that organizational resources and Integrated iFinancial iManagement iInformation iSystem only explained 4.3% change in financial management in Western Kenya's county Governments. The study also found that organizational resources boost Integrated iFinancial iManagement iInformation iSystem’s effect on financial management in Western Kenya's county Governments. To guarantee feasible accomplishment, sustainability, and effective service delivery to the residents, the county governments need to automate all locations at which income is collected. The senior administration of county governments should support the adoption and usage of integrated iFinancial iManagement iInformation iSystem by making enough resources available, including financial resources, technical resources, and human resources.