Intergrated Financial Management Information System Trainings And Management Of Public Funds In Nyamira County, Kenya

Abstract

The Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) is to streamline management of finance resources in organizations where there is unplanned expenditure resulting to huge pending bills, misappropriation of county funds, and mismanagement of cash flows. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Integrated Financial Management Information System Trainings and Management of public funds in Nyamira County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were: to investigate the effect of IFMIS budget planning training on management of public funds; establish the effect of IFMIS procurement planning training on management of public funds; and to establish the effect of IFMIS cash management training on management of public funds. Descriptive survey research design was used. The target population comprised of 75 employees from the selected County departments who had been trained on Integrated Financial Management Information System and use Integrated Financial Management Information System. Sample size was 75 employees selected using Census technique. Ordinal data was collected using self-administered questionnaires, analyzed using descriptive statistics and Spearman's Rank Order (Rho). Descriptive statistics used to analyze data were; percentages, mean, and standard deviation. Correlation coefficient was used for analyzing inferential statistics. The analysis was aided by Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The findings indicated that the effect of IFMIS training on management of public funds had a statistically significantly positive correlation. The study found that IFMIS trainings had a positive effect on budget planning, procurement planning and cash management. The study concluded that IFMIS training led to improvement in minimization of misappropriation of funds enhanced seamless reporting, support to linkage of financial transactions, adequacy to budget planning skills. IFMIS training also leads to enhanced management of public funds, strengthened compliance to Procurement law and procedures, promotes accountability and transparency in county governments, improved efficiency in procurement functions and enhanced preparation of procurement plans. Similarly, IFMIS trainings equip officers with skills that enable the county government to maintain its operating cash float, enhance prudent expenditure and compliance of internal controls. The study recommended that the county government should train all budget officers, finance officers and accounting officers on all budget modules and budget making process in order to harmonize budget plans and link them to various strategic county programmes for improved absorption of funds allocated. The study will be significant to policy makers in decision making and assist scholars in future research.