Effect of Control Environment on The Management of Public Funds in Busia County, Kenya

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue XI, November 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Effect of Control Environment on The Management of Public Funds in Busia County, Kenya

Oluoch Mariwa Francis¹, Dr. Ng’ang’a^2
1,²Department of Accounting and Finance, School of Business, Kenyatta University, Kenya

Abstract: Organizations establish systems of internal control to help them achieve performance and organizational goals, prevent loss of resources, enable production of reliable reports and ensure compliance with laws and regulations. Despite the commendable progress, limited funding from the national government is constraining the ability of the County governments to fulfill their mandate. According to annual County Government Budget report of 2019 lack of proper accounting systems and poor county-level oversight has consistently encouraged abuse of the allocated public funds, delaying the quality of service and the county governments’ overall performance. This study investigated the effect of control environment on the management of public funds in Busia County, Kenya. This study employed a descriptive research design. The target population for this study was the County government of Busia. A total of 54 respondents participated in the study comprising of 10 finance officers and 44 support staff from the department of accounting and finance of the County. A census of 54 respondents was carried out. The study used primary data that was collected using questionnaires. Questionnaires were piloted to 5 respondents to assess the validity and reliability of the research instruments. In addition to that these respondents were not included in the final data collection process. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation and presented in form of tables and figures where applicable. The study further carried out inferential statistics that included correlation analysis and multiple regressions to determine the relationship between variables. The study found that control environment, control activities, internal audit and risk assessment had a positive and significant relationship with the management of public funds in Busia County, Kenya. The study concludes that the degree to which people know that they will be held accountable has a big impact on the control environment and control environment in the County are carried out with the help of accountability. The study recommends that the County should create effective control environment so that it may improve its efficiency in delivering value and meeting its strategic goals.

Keywords: Internal Control, Control environment, Management of public funds,

I. INTRODUCTION

Many organizations are required to report on the quality of internal control over financial reporting, compelling them to develop specific support for their certifications and assertions (Piper, 2015). Internal control ensures effectiveness and efficiency of operations, reliability of financial reporting and compliance with applicable laws and regulations to which the company is subject. According to Mawanda (2018) a sound internal control system helps the firm to prevent frauds,

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