Relationship Between Financial Controls And Financial Sustainability Of Kericho County Government, Kenya

Abstract

Devolution in Kenya has enables national government to transfer some function with finance control to County government. Despite, billions of monies at their disposal, majority of county governments post budget deficits which are due to insufficient finances or poor management of financial resource available leading to county governments experiencing poor financial sustainability. The study sought to analyze the relationship between financial controls and financial sustainability of Kericho County Government. The agency theory, financial control theory and the Resource dependency theory guided the study. The study was based on correlational research design; simple random sampling technique was used to 125 respondents who made a sample size for the study. Questionnaires were used to obtain primary data and validity was determined through the use of experts and university supervisors while reliability was determined by carrying out pilot testing. Data was analyzed by use of descriptive and inferential statistics and data presented in form of tables, frequencies, pie charts and percentages. The findings revealed that the County Government used internal audit to ensure transparency and frequency in financial controls. Therefore, financial controls had positive significant relationship with financial sustainability in the County (P<0.05). The study concluded that financial controls had positive significant relationship with financial sustainability. The study recommended that county government should enhance stakeholders participate in financial utilization by the County Government. The study is significant for policy maker to develop necessary account control policies for public and private sector. This will assist in prudent and accountable financial management leading to high performance of the sectors. Keywords: Financial controls, Financial sustainability, Kericho County Government, Kenya