Factors Affecting The Utilization Of Information Systems In Revenue Management In County Governments: A Survey Of Nakuru County Government

Audit reports by the office of the controller of budget for three consecutive years from 2013 – 2015 revealed gross financial mismanagement and a fall in revenue collection even after County Governments have put in place the Integrated Financial Management Systems (IFMIS) and e-pay systems in accordance with the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act 2012. It has been established that over 50% of county revenues were collected using the manual receipt system. As a result, there were revenue leaks which hinder the county from achieving its revenue targets. Nakuru County has been motioned in this category. Thus the level of utilization of information systems in revenue management was questionable. The main objective of the study was to assess the factors affecting the utilization information systems in revenue management in county governments, a survey of Nakuru County Government. Specific objectives of the study were to establish the effects of user perceptions, ICT infrastructure, staff technical capacity and staff resistance to change on utilization of information systems in revenue management. This study adopted descriptive research design and it was carried out at the County Government of Nakuru. The target population for this study comprised of 351 staff involved in Revenue Management in the County Government of Nakuru. These included sub county administrators, ICT staff, revenue supervisors, revenue collectors and business licensing officers.  The study used stratified random sampling technique to select respondents and self-administered questionnaires were distributed among sampled staffusing the drop and pick later method.Validity test were computed using content validity index while reliability of instruments was ensured by piloting the tool among selected staff of Nakuru County. Pilot questionnaires were then analyzed using Cronbach’s reliability coefficient – The overall reliability coefficient obtained was 0.78.The data obtained werethen analyzed using descriptive statistics frequencies and percentagesas well asChi Square, Person Correlation and Multiple Regression analysis to assess therelationship between the factors and utilization of MIS in revenue management. The study found out that there was a statistically significant correlation between the utilization of Management Information Systems in Revenue Management and user perceptions (r = 0.537, p < 0.01), ICT infrastructure (r = 0.653, p < 0.01), staff technical capacity (r = 0.621, p < 0.01), and resistance to change (r = 0.486, p < 0.01). The study therefore concluded that user perceptions, ICT infrastructure, staff technical capacity and resistance to change affected the utilization of management information systems in revenue management in the county government of Nakuru. It’s recommended that there is a need for follow up research to see what other countries have done to improve on MIS adoption.