Legitimacy Status and Capacity to Conduct Social Accountability Among Community Based Organizations in Kenya. A Survey of Health Civil Society Organizations in Siaya County

Abstract

The study investigated the influence of legitimacy status and capacity to conduct social accountability among community-based organizations in Kenya with a specific focus on health-relatedCivil Society Organizationin Siaya County, Kenya. Since devolution in Kenya, pressure has been put on local Civil Society Organizationto engage with county leadership and hold them accountable to communities they serve. As a result of this, local communitiesanddevelopment partners have put a lotof expectations on the Civil Society Organizations. This has been more pronounced in sectors such as healthcare, which were fully devolved under the current constitutional dispensation. Despite this, Civil Society Organizationshave not lived to this expectation.They have not been effective as many of them lacktherequisite capacitiestoadvocateforpolicy change. This formed the rationale of conducting the study.The study employed a descriptive research study design and targeted a population comprisingofthetwenty-eight Civil Society OrganizationimplementinghealthrelatedinterventionsinSiaya County.Thestudyprimarilymade useoftheprimarydatawhichwas collected using a structured questionnaire. The data was grouped, organized and categorized according to specific objectives. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the data and establish the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 was used foranalysis and data was presented using Tables. The study results indicated there is moderately positive and statistically significant (r=0.395; Sig= 0.03)relationship between legitimacy status and capacity of health Civil Society Organization’sto conduct social accountability. The study concluded thatlegitimacy of the health Civil Society organizationenhances their capacity to conduct social accountability. The studyrecommended that only duly registered community-based organizations should be empowered to implement funded community projects, including social accountability interventions. The organizations’ governance structures should be regulated such that their composition and structure should not be dominated by family members, but the wider community. The study also recommended that legitimacy could be improved by improving community representation and participation in CSOs activities including management and governance issues.