Rural planning project, phase II

PES covers the period through 9/83 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with MEPD and USAID/K officials. Substantial progress has been made following a top-level 1982 GOK decision to make districts the focus of all aspects of rural planning and development. The MEPD's Rural Planning Division has assigned capable advisors, both Kenyan and expatriate, to work with district officials and assist them on a day-to-day basis to implement local decentralization measures. An admirable manual on the selection and planning of rural development projects has been produced. The project has also assisted GOK ministries in meeting the financial management and disaggregation demands of the district focus policy; the provision of microcomputers has been a major help in these areas. GOK capabilities in, e.g., district accounting, personnel development, and tendering have also been bolstered. Seven of nine participants have completed overseas training; of these, five are working directly with the project. In-country, district team training workshops were conducted in 1979 and 1981 and larger-scale briefing seminars on district focus, involving 1,200 GOK officials, in 1983. An ambitious program of education and reorientation to be conducted at all levels of government and society has been outlined. USAID/K's flexible project management and the presence of talented, dedicated advisors have been key factors in the project's success. areas, e.g., disagreggating ministerial budgets, deploying officers to the field, establishing district treasuries, defining the role of the District Development Officer, and re-orienting District Commissioners and other key officers at the headquarters and in the field. It is strongly recommended that a full complement of advisors be continued throughout the next planning cycle. As the future unfolds, everything will depend on continued GOK determination to impose the district focus policy on ministries and to radically alter bureaucratic and financial structures within the government.