Monitoring and Evaluation Planning on Performance of the Last Mile Rural Electrification Project in Kiserian, Kajiado County, Kenya

The Last Mile Rural Electrification Project aimed to address the significant challenge of rural electrification and its implications for community development, particularly women's empowerment in rural electrification projects. Despite numerous rural electrification initiatives, the impact of monitoring and evaluation practices on project performance remains underexplored. The purpose of the study is to establish the influence of monitoring and evaluation planning and performance of the last mile rural electrification project in Kiserian, Kajiado County, Kenya . The objective that guided the study is to establish the influence of planning for monitoring and evaluation and performance of the last mile rural electrification projects in Kiserian, Kajiado Kenya. Data was collected from the respondents by use of questionnaires and interview guides from a target population of 2000 and a sample size of 322. The study adopted a descriptive research survey design and inferential statistics. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS software version 25. Arithmetic mean and standard deviation generated from the descriptive data and Pearson moment correlation coefficient (r) were computed. The coefficient of determination R 2 is 0.383 this is an indicator that R 2 was the coefficient of determination of this model and it depicted that monitoring and evaluation planning explained 38.3%. The remaining 61.7% was explained by other factors. The overall F statistics are 2.291 with p- 0.035b. The literature review emphasized the importance of monitoring and evaluation systems, individual performance on project outcomes, and gender-sensitive approaches in rural projects. The results demonstrated a significant positive relationship between M&E planning and project performance. In conclusion, the study underscores the pivotal role of robust M&E practices in enhancing the performance of rural electrification projects. Effective planning and efficient feedback of M&E results contribute to achieving project goals, particularly in empowering women. These findings imply that policymakers and practitioners should prioritize comprehensive M&E frameworks to ensure sustainable and impactful rural development initiatives. Future research should address the project implementation which is also part of the Monitoring and evaluation process. Keywords: Monitoring and Evaluation Systems, Planning, Project Performance, Rural Electrification Project, Dissemination of results