Determinants of Integrated Financial Management Information System Implementation, in the National Government Departments in Meru County

Abstract

The government of Kenya has for a long time been very much concerned over the persistent poor performance in financial management due to lack of reliable and timely information for decision making. It took an initiative to address the shortcomings of the financial reporting system and to ensure good governance. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) carried out a survey in government accounting in early 1993 followed by a diagnostic study sponsored by the World Bank; this led to introduction of IFMIS. The main objective of this project was to computerize the whole accounting and auditing system in all the national government departments (Kinyua, 2011).The national government has endeavored to implement a fiscal management system at both to the national and county government to enhance prudent and accountable management of resources, putting in place the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) that ensures budgeting and execution of finance commitments of the government bodies. The general objective of this study was to establish the determinants of IFMIS implementation in the national government departments in Meru County. In order to address this aim, the study was guided by the following objectives, namely to: -establish the influence of staff competence on IFMIS implementation in national government departments; assess the influence of government policies on IFMIS implementation in national government departments; determine the influence of top management support on IFMIS implementation in national government departments; and find out the influence of technological infrastructure in IFMIS implementation in national government departments. The study aimed at bridging the gap in knowledge on factors impeding the implementation of IFMIS in national government department in Meru County with the aim of suggesting strategies and approaches that can aid in promoting the implementation and use of the system. A target population of 68 employees of the national government departments in Meru County was used and a census was conducted. Descriptive and advanced inferential statistics were used to analyze data specifically by use of multiple logistic regression and p-value was used to test hypothesis. Frequency distribution tables, pie charts and bar graphs were used to represent the data more easily. The study established that government has created adequate policies in regards to IFMIS implementation; however, the presence of policies is not sufficient to enable its implementation. This was confirmed by hypotheses tests which showed that staff competency, technological infrastructure and most importantly, management support is vital for the effective implementation of the IFMIS system in national government departments. The study concluded that policies without appropriate implementation interventions is not effective in promoting IFMIS implementation. The study recommended that government to work on staff competency, right from recruiting the right personnel, and embracing on on-job training.