PUBLIC SECTOR REFORMS AND COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC SERVICE ETHICS IN THE COUNTY GOVERNMENTS OF KENYA

Abstract

Public sector reforms were intended to change public service to be more responsive to citizen needs and ensure ethical service delivery. The aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of public sector reforms on compliance with public service ethics at the devolved County Governments of Kenya. The study is based unsystematic review methods to discuss the rationale, drivers, achievement, challenges and the general lessons learned and whether the reform has any effect on public service ethics compliance. Results showed that in the last thirty years, many countries especially in Africa adopted reforms with varied outcomes and impact on public service ethics compliance. The reviewed literature has also revealed that implementation of public sector reforms is considered more important for reengineering the public service than compliance with public service ethics. Moreover, several barriers including the changing reform paradigm are well documented globally, regionally and nationally. In Africa and Kenya in particular literature on reforms is generally inconclusive on the impact of reforms on compliance with public service ethics. In addition, the review has identified some important theoretical, conceptual and methodological drawbacks in previous studies that restrict generalization of results to particular contexts such as County Governments. The recommendation is made for further research focusing on the relationships between strategic leadership and reform implementation and employee commitment to public service ethics compliance.