ABSTRACT
Capacity development is a fundamental part of the mandates of many international organizations. Much of their work aims to strengthen national capacities through training, technical advice, exchange of experiences, research, and policy advice. Yet there is considerable dissatisfaction within the international community regarding the impact of many such interventions. The activities have usually strengthened the skills of individuals, but have not always succeeded in improving the effectiveness of non-governmental organizations where those individuals are working. These shortcomings demand investigation in order to strengthen capacity development policies and strategies. The general objective of the study was to investigate effect of stakeholder capacity development on project performance in nongovernmental water projects in Kenya: A case of Ikutha water sanitation and hygiene project. This study was based on the following specific objectives: to examine the effect of training, community sensitization, management support and career development on project performance in non-governmental water projects in Kenya. This research applied the descriptive survey research design. The sample size of the study comprised of 66 respondents comprising of 6 project managers and 60 Project Team members. Stratified sampling was used to select the sample. The data collection instruments were structured questionnaires for the project team members and interviews for the project managers. The study established that training, community sensitization; management support and career development had a positive and significant effect on project performance in non-governmental water projects in Kenya. The study also concluded that managers are involved in developing the effective training programs for their employees to equip them with the desired knowledge, skills and abilities to achieve organizational goals. Members of the community who directly benefit from the project influence the direction and execution of development projects. Organization management ensure effective communication between them and the employees, provide that required resources in the implementation of the projects and ensure proper organization of activities of any project to be undertaken. Organization continuously develop the careers of the projects team members and project managers in order to help them in improving and upgrading their skills on project management, foster better communication between managers and employees and that they can set more realistic goals and objectives. This study recommended that the organization should identify training need of its employees and design training programmes that will help to optimally utilize their workforce towards actualization of organization objective. project managers and their team should introduce meetings with project beneficiaries and allocate time for them in their schedules. This will open an avenue for people to share their views and opinions regarding the projects at hand. Project manager should be accountable for delivering project outputs. There should be active involvement of senior managers of to help project managers to successfully complete the project. The organization should establish career development programs that are effectively integrated with the organization’s ongoing training and development strategies.
