- *ROYLEX KINIGI
- The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya
- FAR Journal of Financial and Business Research (FARJFBR)
- DOI
Humanitarian projects play a critical role in addressing vulnerability in displacement settings, yet many interventions in Kakuma Refugee Camp fail to remain functional once donor funding ends, a pattern attributed to weak budgeting, inadequate risk planning, and poor internal controls. This study examined how financial management practices – budgeting, risk management, audit and internal control, and financial planning – influence the sustainability of humanitarian projects implemented by NGOs operating in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya. The specific objectives were to explore how budgeting practices shape sustainability, examine the role of risk management in project continuity, evaluate how audit and internal control systems affect accountability and long-term outcomes, and analyze how financial planning practices contribute to sustainability. The study adopted a qualitative, phenomenological design, drawing on a target population of 25 finance, project management, and field implementation staff across five NGOs, of whom 23 participants (a 92 percent response rate) were purposively sampled and engaged over a four-week data collection period through key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Data were analyzed thematically. The findings showed that participatory, realistic, and closely monitored budgeting, proactive risk management, strong internal audit and control mechanisms, and long-term, locally grounded financial planning significantly enhanced sustainability, while unrealistic budgeting, donor dependency, and weak documentation undermined it. The study concludes that project continuity after donor exit depends more on the quality of internal financial management than on the volume of donor funding received, and recommends that NGOs institutionalize participatory and evidence-based budgeting, invest in forecasting and risk-management capacity, and strengthen audit and internal control systems, while donors adopt more predictable, longer-term funding models. Future research should extend these findings through mixed-methods, comparative, and longitudinal designs across other protracted displacement settings.
