Influence of Social Economic Factors on Completion of Construction Projects in Public Secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya

The aim of this paper was to establish the influence of social economic factors on completion of construction projects in public secondary schools in Bungoma County, Kenya. The study was informed by construction management and soft value management theories. In the study purposive sampling technique was used in choosing 461study respondents (Principals and Chairpersons of Parents Teachers Association) who were sampled to ensure homogeneity of the selected sample in ensuring that samples were drawn from each region encompassed in the target population, then followed by simple random sampling technique from each sub county. Questionnaires and interview schedules were the main data collection instruments. Data analysis involved use of statistical package for social sciences, SPSS version 21 tool where both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Cronbach Alpha of coefficient of 0.831 was attained on all constructs of social economic factors, which was above 0.7 as recommended by Cronbach (1951) implying the research instruments were reliable. The correlation coefficient (R) or the beta value β of 0.423≠0 at p=0.00 indicated that the hypothesis was accepted. The coefficient of determination, R-square of 0.422 implied that 42.2% of the variance in completion of construction projects was attributed to social economic factors. From the study findings, social economic factors namely; interpersonal skills of project manager, inflation, corruption and community involvement affects completion of construction project progress. The community should be involved directly in school projects. This will improve their perception and goodwill towards completion of construction projects in public secondary schools. The management need to be keen on price fluctuations that eventually have an effect on completion of construction projects. Future research is encouraged to cover other sectors other than education and compare the findings. The findings are of importance to the Ministry of Education in Kenya and other interested parties in future. Researchers in future have a basis for reference from this study.

characteristics, characteristics of a project manager and government policy.
The president of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta expressed a lot of discontent with the performance and delivery of services in government ministries. He decried poor performance and failure to deliver that continues to cause frustration among the public due to delays in completing of critical programmes and projects (GOK, 2015). Further, studies conducted across the country's 210 constituencies by the CDF Board (2008) and National Anti-Corruption Steering Committee NACC (2008) indicate that, since its inception in 2003, CDF has facilitated the implementation of a number of local level development projects aimed at poverty reduction and socio -economic development of people . However, many flaws have been evident in implementation of the projects. This is confirmed by a Citizen's Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Report Card for Kanduyi Constituency in Bungoma County for the financial year 2007/08 released in 2011 (National Tax Payers Association, 2011).
Socio-economic issues always occur throughout the development process. Such misunderstanding often produces minor negative consequences (such as minor process delays, product errors, and/or problems in relation to other participants), but occasionally their consequences may be more extensive. Communication is a social factor which can lead a project toward success or failure. Inflation is an economic factor which is a rise in general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time and leads to a reduced purchasing power, thus affecting cost of projects. Aje and Jagboro (2003) as cited by Mwangi (2005) say it is rare for building works not to have variations. This leads to time and cost overruns.
It is becoming more widely accepted that unless people are actively involved in the development projects which are aimed to help them, the projects are doomed to fail. It is therefore important that the beneficiaries participate in every stage of the project. When the project is being planned, the people should be consulted, and their priorities and needs assessed. During the construction phase, the people again should be involved -supplying labour but also helping with field layouts after being trained with simple surveying. Milika (2011) advises that different participatory methods be designed to produce different types of outcomes, which in turn, determine the final outcomes of the stakeholders' engagement exercise. The proposed study seeks to assess how socio factors such as misunderstandings among project team, communication issues, inflation and community participation influence projects completion in public schools setup where there may be no clear structures as it is in the private sector.

Statement of the Problem
The National Tax Payers Association report 2011 found that, out of a total of Kshs. 128,652,185 which had been allocated to the constituency since the onset of the CDF in the year 2003/04.Kshs. 30,588,859 had been misappropriated leading to poorly implemented projects. Subsequently, an audit report for the financial year 2009/10 released in 2012 by the National Taxpayers Association for Bungoma County Council on the performance of the Citizens' Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) found that Kshs. 11,466,000 of taxpayers' money had been wasted due to badly implemented projects while Kshs. 1,850,000 of taxpayers' money had been wasted on abandoned project. The Citizens Constituency Development Fund Report Card for Sirisia Constituency (2011) for projects funded and monitored in the financial year 2007/2008 revealed that taxpayers' money had been wasted due to badly implemented projects (National Tax Payers Association, 2011). Most of the studies carried out show the contractor as the sole cause of cost and time overruns in project, managerial mishaps as well as tainting the environment. This caused need for this study to establish influence of social economic factors namely; interpersonal skills of project manager, inflation, corruption and community involvement on completion of construction projects in public secondary schools in Bungoma County, Kenya.

Study Objective
To establish the influence of social economic factors on completion of construction projects in public secondary schools in Bungoma County, Kenya.

Research Question
How does social economic factors influence completion of construction projects in public secondary schools in Bungoma County?

Research Hypothesis
H1: Social economic factors significantly influence completion of construction projects in public secondary schools in Bungoma County.

Literature Review
The theory of construction management whose proponents are Radosavljevic and Bennett (2012) focuses on efficiency of construction projects. It involves creating a model of construction management (CM), which utilizes the differentiated methods in order to ensure completion of building and construction projects. They present the Japanese construction industry as the most advanced in terms of their theory (, and that Lean Construction is founded on the Toyota production system and the development of lean production in Japan. The authors aim is to provide a "rigorous theory" based on a "tool kit of concepts and relationships" that will improve the efficiency and quality of "construction products". The proponents of Soft Value Management Theory are Al Yami and Price (2006). Soft Value Management (SVM) theory is used when plans are being made on how to reduce the negative impact a project might incur in the process of implementation. When a clear roadmap is developed on the various ways a project can be managed with minimal negative effects, it becomes beneficial to the whole project. This theory applies to the proposed study in regard to the study's purpose to examine the influence of project critical success factors on completion of construction projects with a view of making recommendations for improving project performance within the schools, hence connects with the theory of SVM whose aim is in attempting to minimize negative impacts in a project and enhance project completion.

Social Economic Factors and Completion of Construction Projects
The construction industry is faced by a number of challenges that lead to emergence of drawbacks and disharmonizations in the completion of projects with considerable costs. In Thailand, the following dispute factors have been related to public work projects. The factors include delay in making of payment, failure to adhere to the set regulations, poor planning, poor monitoring and evaluation and poor timelines (Borvorn, 2011).Inflation which involves an increase in the price of goods within a short period of time leads to a reduced purchasing power, thus affecting cost of projects. Mbathi (1986), citing Aje and Jagboro (2003), say it is rare for building works not to have variations. This leads to time and cost overruns. This may lead to better product, or add no value or wasted money. Quantity surveyors do not design, but are the cost and price specialists. They do not cost control, but cost monitor and report, whose data may be used for cost control. This implies that even designers or quantity surveyors may not have control over inflation and other economic factors that affect project completion (Mbathi, 1986).
In spite of the reported positive effects of CDF in Kimilili constituency in Bungoma County in Kenya, various challenges were cited to be limiting the socio-economic effects of devolved funding particularly the CDF projects. Some of these challenges include: Lack of technical capacity among management committees, Political interference in management and utilization of the devolved funds, Changing fund management committee members frequently, Some fund management committee members being not fully conversant with the policies guiding their specific devolved fund, inadequate funding, delayed funding, poor selection and prioritization of projects, Illiteracy of the locals, Lack of strategic plan, Irregular monitoring and evaluation of projects and high poverty level limiting the locals' ability to secure major CDF projects and strict procurement requirements needed to supply services to CDF projects This was established through a study on how the socio-economic welfare of Kenyans changed since the introduction of CDF: a case of constituency development fund in Kimilili, kenya, (Simiyu , Mwevu and Omete, 2014). A descriptive survey design was used. A total of 98 respondents were selected through the census approach. A pre-tested semi structured questionnaire and an interview schedule were used to collect data. Statistical techniques were employed in data analysis.
A study, which used the descriptive survey research design was carried out in Kimilili Constituency, Bungoma County. The study beneficiaries of the CDF projects and thus targeted 103 households. In the study, Kibebe and Mwirigi (2014) examined different social factors that led to the implementation of the projects. The findings of the study indicated that there was poor prioritization, poor appropriation of funds, poor decision making and illiteracy levels that influenced the completion of CDF initiated projects. Moreover, the findings indicated that the projects were not professionally carried out because there were corrupt deals, unskilled personnel, delays in funding and poor quality of materials. Basheka (2008), emphasizes that budgetary allocations can be stabilized through a good procurement plan. Simiyu, Mwevu and Omete, (2014), also found that socio problems had a huge impact on the success of the implementation of CDF projects in Kimilili Constituency, Bungoma County. Therefore, stakeholders should desire to play their respective parts of their role in order to make the work easy (World Bank, 2002).
Projects will fail if the stakeholders who are to benefit do not take part. This is because when the concerned stakeholders take part they will have a direct influence on the success of the project. It is unlike when people who will not benefit are actively involved. This is because they do not even know what is a priority, they will just carry out the project without due consideration. However, when the locals who are part of the process will be involved, they will fix the important parts of the project in a customized manner that will make sure they receive the full benefits of the project. When the people are consulted, they will also give ideas on how the project should be carried out and where more emphasis should be put. When the local people are also involved in supplying the materials, they will get the best quality because they know the project will remain to be their heritage for many years. Milika (2011) advises that in the process of involving people, there is need to have a participatory approach running from the start to the finish.  Vol.11, No.12, 2019 29 On the other hand, Mwangi (2005) and Ravallion (2005) explain that community projects will prosper when the community itself appreciates and identifies a problem that needs to be fixed. Section 23 (2, 3 and 4) of the CDF Act, 2003 revised 2007 offers the best guidelines on what should be done in order to identify a problem. In examining the influence of community participation in projects, Nyaguthii and Oyugi (2013) established the need to have local projects be comprised of the locals. This is because they could ensure the projects are carried out while involving the community for the purposes of ownership. In cases where the local participation was low, the projects were not successfully embraced by the community. In some case, they were destroyed because the community felt they were not part of the project. Figure 1 shows the interaction between social economic factors and completion of construction projects in public secondary schools in Bungoma County Kenya.

Research Methodology
The study adopted a descriptive survey due to its ability to consider diverse aspects of the research problem and helping the researcher to describe precisely what is being seen (Saunders et al., 2007). A descriptive research design also enables generation of factual information about the study. A descriptive research design is concerned with describing characteristics of a problem. A descriptive research design is deemed appropriate for this research paper because it helped to portray accurate profile of events and how they are. It also allowed for in-depth analysis of variables and elements of the study population as well as collection of large amounts of data in a highly efficient way. The study made use of the combination of both qualitative and quantitative data through interviews and questionnaires.
The County has 296 public secondary schools and 12 private schools. The literacy level is 60.5% with those attending school (15 yrs-18 yrs.) at 87.4% with secondary school enrolment of 130,907 students. The target population from which the study sample was drawn was 296 Principals and 296 PTA Chairpersons of public secondary schools and 9 Quality Assurance and Standards Officers giving a total of 601,as the target population.
Purposive sampling was adopted in choice of study respondents who were subjected to Stratified sampling to ensure homogeneity of the selected sample in ensuring that samples are drawn from each region encompassed in the target population, then followed by simple random sampling technique from each region. The sample size for this study was 461 drawn from a target population of 601 using Yamane (1967) theory of sampling.
Primary data was obtained from the questionnaires and interview schedules as research instruments. Questionnaires were used to capture data from the respondents. This instrument was used in the study because it is confidential, saves on time, has no bias and covers wide area (Mugenda and Mugenda, 2003). The questionnaire as an instrument used both closed ended and open ended questions in its structure.
The study used both descriptive and inferential statistics during data analysis. Numerical scores were awarded to closed ended questions. Descriptive statistics employed the use of means, frequencies and percentages and for inferential statistics. Quantitative data collected from respondents was coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20) tool. Simple regression was used to determine the influence of project characteristics on completion of construction projects. The following table shows how the  Vol.11, No.12, 2019 hypothesis was tested and decision rule.

Study Results
A total of 452 questionnaires were issued to the respondents out of which 320 questionnaires were correctly filled and returned. This constituted 70.8% of which was considered adequate and in line with Kothari (2004) who recommended that a return rate of more than 50% was acceptable in social science research. From the results, 16 (5%) of the respondents came from Cheptais sub county, 36(11.3%) from Kimilili sub county, 28(8.8%) were from Bungoma central sub county, 58 (18.1%) from Bungoma East sub county, 48(15%) from Bungoma South sub county, 42 (13.1%) from Bumula sub county, 50 (15.6%) were from Bungoma North sub county, 32 (10%) from Bungoma West sub county while the remaining 10 (3.1%) were from Mt Elgon sub county. The results showed that 18 (5.6%) of the respondents were aged between 25-34 years, 39 (12.2%) were aged between 35-44 years, 191 (59.7%) were aged between 45-54 years, 35 (10.9%) were aged between 55 -64 years while the remaining 37(11.6%) were 65 years and above.
The age of the majority of respondents is important because it is an active age that is quite productive in determining the success of any given task (Sin, 2010).Out of 320 respondents who participated in the study 246 (76.9%) were male while 74 (23.1) were female. This finding goes against gender parity as articulated in Kenyan constitution. The results shows that out of 320 respondents who participated in the study 55 (17.2%) had tertiary education, while 265 (82.8%) had university education. This shows that the level of education of the people involved in the management of projects is adequate for completion of construction projects. The results indicate that out of 320 respondents who participated in the study, 248 (77.5%) had acquired training in management of projects while 72 (22.5%) had no formal training in the same.
The study sought to achieve was to examine the extent to which social economic factors influence completion of construction projects. To achieve this objective, respondents who participated in the study were asked to state their level of agreement or disagreement in a Likert scale of 1 -5 where; Strongly agree (SA)=5, Agree(A)= 4, Neutral or not sure (N)= 3, Disagree (D)= 2 and strongly disagree (SD) = 1. The ten statements on social economic factors are presented on Table 4.1. Composite mean and Standard Deviation 4.6100 0.5234 Statement one; Good understanding among school construction project team is crucial. Out of 320 who respondent, 276(86.3%) strongly agreed, 44(13.8%) agreed while none of the respondents was not sure, disagreed or strongly disagreed. The statement mean 4.8625 was above composite mean 4.61 implying good understanding among school construction project team supports completion of construction projects. Statement two; Poor communication among school construction project team disrupts project work. Out of 320 respondents, 308(96.3%) strongly agreed, 12(3.8%) agreed while none was not sure, disagreed or strongly disagreed. The statement mean 4.9625 was above composite mean 4.61 implying poor communication among school construction project team disrupts project work and has influence on completion of construction projects. Statement three; Disputes among school construction project team can hinder project completion. Out of 320 respondents, 74(23.1%) strongly agreed, 51(15.9%) agreed, 195(60.9%) were not sure while none of the respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed. Majority of the respondents were not sure whether disputes among school construction team can hinder project completion. The statement mean 3.6219 was below the composite mean 4.61 implying disputes among school construction project team have no influence on completion of construction projects. Statement four; Inflation can affect school construction projects. Out of 320 respondents, 152 (47.5%) strongly agreed, 114(35.6%) agreed, 54(16.9%) were not sure while 0(0%) disagreed or strongly disagreed. Majority of respondents 268(82.1%) agreed inflation can affect school construction projects. The statement mean 4.3375 was below the composite mean 4.61 implying inflation does not influence completion of construction projects.

Table 1 Social Economic Factors and Completion of Construction Projects
Statement five: Corruption can be an obstacle to school construction projects. Out of 320 who responded, 225(70.3%) strongly agreed, 91 (28.4%) agreed, 4(1.3%) were not sure. None of the respondents disagreed and strongly disagreed respectively. Majority of the respondents 316 (98.7%) agreed corruption can be an obstacle to school construction projects. The mean statement 4.7281 was above composite mean 4.61 implying corruption is an obstacle to completion of construction projects. Statement six; Misappropriation of school construction project funds can interfere with projects. Out of 320 who responded, 242(75.6%) strongly agreed, 78(24.4%) agreed while none was not sure, disagreed or strongly disagreed. The statement mean 4.7563 was above composite mean 4.61 implying misappropriation of school construction project funds has influence on completion of construction projects.
Statement seven; involving the community more in school construction projects is of value to the project. Out of 320 respondents, 244(76.3%) strongly agreed, 61 (19.1%) agreed, 11 (3.4%) were not sure, 4 (1.3%) disagreed while 0(0%) strongly disagreed. Majority of the respondents 305(95.4%) agreed involving the community more in school construction projects is of value to the project. Statement mean 4.7031 was above composite mean 4.61 which implies involving the community more in school construction projects supports completion of construction projects. Statement eight; Involving Community members in a project leads to customer satisfaction. Out of 320 who participated in the study, 241(75.3%) strongly agreed, 66(20.6%) agreed, 13(4.1%) were not sure while none disagreed or strongly disagreed. Majority of the respondents 307(95.9%) agreed involving community members in a project leads to consumer satisfaction. The statement mean 4.7125 was above composite mean 4.61 implying involving community members in a project leads to consumer satisfaction and supports completion of construction projects.
Statement nine; Soliciting for support from the community for school construction projects is necessary. Out of 320 who participated in the study, 230 (71.9%) strongly agreed, 56 (17.5%) agreed, 34 (10.6%) were not sure while none disagreed or strongly disagreed. Majority of the respondents 286 (89.4%) agreed soliciting for support from the community for school construction projects is necessary. Statement mean 4.6125 was above the composite mean 4.61 implying soliciting for support from the community for school construction projects is necessary for completion of construction projects. Statement ten; Soliciting for labour from the community is good for school construction projects. Out of 320 who responded, 257 (80.3%) strongly agreed, 63(19.7%) agreed, while none was not sure, disagreed or strongly disagreed. The statement mean 4.8031 was above the composite mean 4.61 implying sourcing for labour from the community is good for school construction projects and influences completion. Hypothesis 5 H1: Social economic factors significantly influence completion of construction projects in public secondary schools in Bungoma County. The mean of socio-economic factors (SE) and completion of construction project (Ycp) was regressed. The purpose of this analysis was to establish the relationship between social economic factors and completion of construction project in Bungoma County. This was tested using significance of R square, regression coefficient (B) and correlation coefficient (Beta) at 95.0% confidence level. The results are presented in Table 4.2.
European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905(Paper) ISSN 2222-2839(Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM Vol.11, No.12, 2019  The test criteria was set such that the study accepts the hypothesis if the value of beta, β6≠ O. Simple regression YCp = α + β5SE + e was used where Ycpis completion of construction projects, α is the y-intercept term, SE was social economic factors, β5is the beta value and e is the standard error term. The results were as shown in table 4.16. This was carried out using significance of R square and Regression coefficient at 95.0% confidence level. The results reveal that the value of beta was 0.651 ≠0. The hypothesis was therefore confirmed and accepted thus there is statistically significant relationship between social economic factors and completion of construction projects in public secondary schools in Bungoma County. Hence the equation; Completion of construction projects = 1.234+0.651*Social economic factors +3.95 From the ANOVA results the F test gave a value of F (318,319) =233.477, p <0 .01, which was large enough to support the goodness of fit of the model in explaining the variation in the dependent variable. The findings from the study indicate that 42.3% of completion of construction projects was attributed to socio-economic factors.
This study finding concurs with Simiyu, Mwevu and Omete (2014) who found out that social problem had a huge impact on the success of the implementation of CDF projects in Kimilili Constituency, Bungoma County. A separate study that supports the current findings was done by Kibebe and Mwirigi (2014), who found that there was poor prioritization, poor appropriation of funds, poor decision making and illiteracy levels that influenced the completion of CDF initiated projects. Moreover, the findings indicated that the projects were not professionally carried out because there were corrupt deals, unskilled personnel, delays in funding and poor quality of materials. Nyaguthii and Oyugi (2013), in their study established the need to have local projects to be comprised of the locals for the purpose of ownership.
Qualitative data generated through interview from the QASOs had the following; "Misunderstandings among project team can affect quality. Corruption and misappropriation of project funds and other resources can delay project completion and also quality. Customers will not be happy with the project Resources from the community will be cheaper. If the community is involved in the project, its feels a sense of belonging hence the entire project will be owned by it. The community will talk well about the institution since it will earn its good will if it is involved in the project. There will be a link between the community, school and the ministry of education. Community involvement will also lead to cases of conflicts in project implementation".

Conclusion
There exists a statistically significant positive influence of socio-economic factors on completion of construction projects in public secondary schools. The community should be involved directly in school projects. This will improve their perception and goodwill towards completion of construction projects in public secondary schools. The management need to be keen on price fluctuations that eventually have an effect on completion of construction projects.

Recommendation
From the results in this study, interpersonal skills such as good relationship among the project team and the community are necessary for project completion. Effects of inflation on a project can be mitigated by the project team if the project is done within schedule. Corruption in construction projects must be fought by all stakeholders to enhance project completion. Involving the community in school construction projects enhances sense of ownership and promotes good will that is required for project completion.

Limitations
The major limitations of this study were: the high cost implications of the study area. Bungoma County measures 2,206.9 square Km, therefore schools are many kilometers away from each other, and hence this caused challenges to the researcher who visited them. This was overcome by using motor cycles as means of transport to access schools located in the interior of the county. This helped to reduce cost. The researcher anticipated experiencing financial constraints due to wide area the County covers and the spread of schools. This was mitigated by securing funds in good time from a Sacco to avoid delaying the study due to lack of funds. The funds were used to facilitate  Vol.11, No.12, 2019 33 travel, subsistence and materials required for the research. Laxity by respondents to willingly and freely share information with the researcher for not knowing what the information was to be used for was guarded by the researcher stating and introductory letters were crucial in order to assure the respondents of their safety and the confidentiality of the information. Respondents who participated in the study were given an assurance that the information sought was regarded as confidential and that the findings of the study analysis were for academic purposes only. PTA Chairpersons are not school employees and so may not be readily found in schools when required to fill questionnaires. The researcher made appointments with them through the school principals. The researcher facilitated their travel to school to be able to fill questionnaires and even carry out telephone interviews where necessary for practical reasons. Given the busy schedule of school Principals, the researcher made appointments with them to allow the use of some of their time out of their busy schedule in filling the questionnaires. This hastened their response to filling the research questionnaire.