The moderating effect of legal framework on the delivery of devolved services in selected counties in Kenya

Purpose: The main purpose of this paper was to ascertain the moderating effect of legal framework on relationships between strategic planning, stakeholder engagement and devolved service delivery. Material/methods: Using positivism approach and explanatory research design the study collected data 384 employees selected from eight counties in Kenya.  Structured five-point likert scale questionnaires were used for data collection. Findings: from hierarchical regression model revealed that legal framework had positive and significant moderating effect on the relationship between strategic planning and devolved service delivery.  However, legal framework does not moderate the relationship between stakeholder engagement and devolved service delivery. Conclusion/recommendation: This shows that counties with strict and good legal framework have strategic plans which highly improve performance of devolved system. As such county need to ensure there is clear policy on devolution and on more specifically on devolved services to avoid conflict on functions of county and national government which may interfere with service delivery at the county levels. Also, there is need for a clear legal framework on transfer of liabilities and assets from local government to the county government.