ABSTRACT
The community-based urban development project in Karu delivered some basic municipal facilities in the beneficiary communities but it was not clear whether these gains have resulted from effective community participation and partnering in the project. The main objectives of the research were to assess the community participation component in the Karu project and identify the factors that explained the level of community participation that has occurred. The study sourced data on the level of community awareness in the project and community involvement in project implementation activities. Household survey and stakeholders interviews were used to gather data for the study. The study also explored official documents and reports on the project. Simple description and interpretation of the response patterns to survey and interview questions was used to draw inferences on summarized data. Research findings revealed that beneficiary communities had significant involvement in the selection of projects and identification of sites for implemented projects, while awareness in the project; involvement in project execution and monitoring; and contributions to counterpart funds were poor. Communities however had fair involvement in the take-over, and operation and maintenance of completed facilities. The study concluded that the level of community participation in the Karu project was largely poor. The level of participation was tokenistic, adopting mostly manipulative committee approach. The level of participation that occurred in the project was traced to limited access of the larger public to project related information, technical nature of sub-projects implemented and poor logistics on counterpart fund contributions.