Influence of Project Implementation Strategies by Religious Organizations on Rural Development: A Case of Kitui Catholic Diocese, Kitui County, Kenya

It has been documented that religious institutions have influenced the development of education systems, health facilities, infrastructure such as roads, water provision structures and even building designs. This study sought to find out the influence of project implementation strategies by religious organisations on rural development in Kenya. The study focused on the Catholic Diocese of Kitui, in Kitui County and sought to document how project implementation strategies by Catholic Diocese of Kitui influence rural development in Kitui County of Kenya. The target population for this study was drawn out of a homogenous setting of Kitui County, Kitui East Subcounty, Nzambani and Chuluni wards and covered a total of 6939 households. The study covered a sample population of 364 out of the determined target population of 6939 households. The analysis of the data collected was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The study established that project implementation strategies by Catholic Diocese of Kitui influenced rural development in Kitui County as shown by a composite mean of 3.945. The Chi-Square test results of the association between project implementation strategies by religious organizations and rural development at Catholic Diocese of Kitui, Kitui County in Table 16, shows a Chi-Square value = 8.954, p = 0.003. The p-value is less than 0.05 and hence there is a statistically significant association between project implementation strategies and rural development at Catholic Diocese of Kitui. From the findings, the study found that if the independent variable, project implementation strategies, was held constant at zero, then the rural development in Kitui County will be 3.537. The study also found that a unit change in project implementation strategies changes would lead to a 0.843 unit change in rural development in Kitui County. The variable was significant since p-value=0.012<0.05. The study concluded that project implementation strategies had a great influence on rural development in Kitui County. The study recommends that there is need for capacity development to identify resource availability and build capacities in communities and have them assisted to undertake church based projects. The study recommends that there is need for capacity development to identify resource availability and build capacities in communities and have them assisted to undertake church based projects. To create more ownership of the projects, the study recommends that there should be involvement of user representatives from the initiation to the implementation phases of the projects.