An Evaluation Of The Effect Of Citizen Charters On Service Delivery In State Corporations In Kenya: The Case Of The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority

ABSTRACT

Citizen Charters were introduced by the Government of Kenya in 2004 as part of reforms aimed at improving service delivery in public sector institutions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which implementation of Citizen Charters has affected service delivery in state corporations with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority as a case study. The study examined elements of Citizen Charters that have a bearing on service delivery namely; public involvement in their design, organizational commitment to set standards and existence of mechanisms for grievance redress. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is a state corporation that was created in 2002 through an Act of Parliament with the mandate of regulating the civil aviation industry in Kenya; providing air navigation services; and training of aviation personnel. The study adopted a qualitative research design. Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews. The sample for the study was drawn from 20 heads of departments at the KCAA. Data source triangulation was also adopted to ensure validity and reliability of the findings. Accordingly, two focus group discussions were organized each comprising 12 participants drawn from two key stakeholder groups namely customers and staff members. The study established that there was little stakeholder involvement in the development of the charter. There is no policy to support or guide such involvement and past engagements with stakeholders have been ad hoc. Organizational commitment to the implementation the charter is not supported by empirical evidence. There are no guidelines for standard setting or performance management; mechanisms for performance monitoring and evaluation are largely lacking; and there are no incentive schemes to reward or sanction staff and departments. Furthermore, there are no mechanisms for grievance redress and complaints handling. The study also discounted lack of resources as a constraint in the implementation of the charter. Through focus group discussions, the study established that some issues that stakeholders considered important are not captured in the charter. Furthermore, there is an implementation gap between the standards as reflected in the charter and what obtains on a daily basis. That notwithstanding, the study established that the implementation of Citizen Charters has affected service delivery in public institutions positively by making them more citizen-centric in their orientation. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 has also raised accountability threshold by creating the constitutional Commission on Administrative Justice that acts as an independent and impartial guarantor of service delivery, accountability and due process. This study provides useful insight into how citizen charters have been developed and implemented in public corporations. Hopefully, the research finding shall benefit a number of institutions including the Government of Kenya, KCAA, other state corporations, civil society, intergovernmental agencies such the United Nations, development partners and the general public.