Influence of Human Resource Capacity on Performance of County Government Departments in Turkana County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the effect of human resource capacity on the performance of county government departments in Turkana County, Kenya. Despite substantial financial allocations under devolution, Turkana County continues to experience persistent challenges in project completion, service delivery, and socio-economic development, raising concerns about the effectiveness of human resource capacity within its departments. A quantitative approach was used in the study, specifically adopting descriptive and correlational research designs. The target population comprised 120 senior county government officials drawn from four cadres: directors, accountants, human resource officers, and procurement officers working across 11 county departments in Turkana Central Sub-County. Yamane’s sampling formula was applied to determine a sample size of 93 respondents. Stratified sampling was used to categorise respondents into four cadres, while purposive sampling was applied to select relevant officials across 11 departments. Primary data were gathered through structured questionnaires, whereas secondary data were sourced from Programme-Based Budgets and departmental reports. Findings revealed that although employees possessed adequate technical and problem-solving skills, significant gaps existed in training opportunities, access to capacity-building information, reward systems, and job security. Regression results indicated that human resource capacity had a weak and statistically insignificant influence on performance (R² = 0.034), implying that it explains only a small proportion of performance variation in county departments. The study concludes that weaknesses in human resource capacity management have minimal influence on the performance of county government departments in Turkana County. It recommends strengthening structured training programmes, improving employee motivation and reward systems, enhancing job security, and institutionalising effective human resource development frameworks.