DETERMINANTS OF POLICY MAKING IN THE KENYA’S PUBLIC HEALTH SECTOR
Grace Wambui - Masters Student, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Timothy C. Okech - United States International University - Africa, Kenya
Dr. Tobias Olweny - Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
This purpose of this study was to examine the determinants of policy making in Kenya’s public health sector. This research was guided by three specific objectives namely to find out the influence of political systems on policy making in the sector; to determine the role of economic resources on policy making in health sector of Kenya; to assess the influence of stakeholder participation on policy making in the sector; and finally to establish the effect of legal frameworks on policy making in health sector of Kenya. To realize the objectives, the study adopted descriptive study design and stratified sampling to identify the respondents in terms of different level of management. Krejcie & Morgan’s formula was used to determine the sample size, from a structured questionnaire was used to collect data. A pilot study was conducted using four policy makers at management level, while, content validity was used to find out whether the instruments responded to research questions. With Cronbach’s alpha used in testing for the reliability of the instruments. Both inferential and descriptive statistics were computed to analyse the data collected. The study found that there is a positive correlation between policy making and political systems, stakeholder participation, economic resources and legal framework in Kenya’s health sector. From the regression results, it is evident that when we set the value of the coefficients of all the variables to zero policy making in health sector in Kenya would be at 1.314 with a t-value of 2.074, a unit change in political systems while holding the other factors constant would change the policy making in the health sector in Kenya by a factor of 0.786 with a t-value of 6.048, A unit change in economic resources while holding the other factors constant would change the policy making in the health sector in Kenya by a factor of 0.620 with a t-value of 3.990 and a unit change in legal frameworks while holding the other factors constant would change the policy making in the health sector in Kenya by a factor of 0.614 with a t-value of 4.759. The study concluded that financial constraints often affect the implementation of absolutely clear policy in Kenya. On political systems the study concludes that policy makers in health sector involve politicians in the policy making process. The study concluded that the level of participation determines the period of policy making process in the health sector, the study concluded that civil society groups introduce shifts in public policies in the health sector, judiciary in Kenya plays a key role in implementation of the policies in the health sector. Therefore, the study recommends that politicians should strive to understand the political stake in the policy making process and developing a relationship of shared respect and trust between among other stakeholders without compromising scientific integrity.
