COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF LOCAL AUTHORITY TRANSFER FUND IN KENYA

The Local Authorities Transfer Fund (LATF) is one of the funds that the Kenyan Government has decentralized to local authorities to supplement the financing of service delivery, enhance financial management and accountability, as well as reduce debts accumulated by the authorities. The purpose of this study was to assess and document community perspectives on accountability and transparency in the management of LATF resources. We sourced primary data from 162 community members, including opinion leaders and civil servants. The study found that participants were satisfied with community involvement in the planning and budgeting process (48.8%), enhancing accessibility of external auditor’s reports (42.0%) and liability management (34.0%). However, they expressed dissatisfaction with indicators such as transparency in the procurement process (58.0%), management of Council assets (57.4%), publicization of expenditure reports (44.0%), cash flow management (42.0%), budget execution discipline (35.2%), accounting system (30.9%) as well as internal control and audit system (30.2%). The success of LATF largely depends on the Government’s enforcement of existing regulations, identifying gaps and formulating additional controls, as well as taking public officers and political leaders through the change process. This will provide necessary safeguards against political interference and corruption in the management of LATF projects.