Stakeholder Engagement as a Moderator in Evaluation-Driven Highway Infrastructure Performance: Evidence from KeNHA Projects in Kenya

Abstract

Despite widespread investment in national highway infrastructure, endemic issues of cost overruns, schedule delays and quality deficits continue to plague the outcomes of projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is postulated that evaluation results utilization can be used to overcome these deficits by converting evaluation findings to project decisions that can be executed; although its efficacy may be dependent on the level of stakeholder engagement. This study examines the direct effects of evaluation results utilization and stakeholder engagement on highway project performance as well as the moderating role of stakeholder engagement in the evaluation results utilization–performance relationship. A census-based correlational design was used, which included all 69 completed Category-A highway projects managed by the Kenya National Highways Authority between 2018 and 2022. Both primary and secondary data was used. The findings indicated that evaluation results utilization significantly predicted project performance, accounting  for 24.4%, 29.1% and 20.4% of the variance in completion time, quality and cost-effectiveness respectively. Stakeholder engagement has a moderating effect on the evaluation results utilization –performance relationship. This study makes an original theoretical contribution by providing empirical evidence that stakeholder engagement functions as a fourth project constraint within the Triple Constraints framework, moderating the impact of evaluation results utilization on infrastructure performance. The findings offer novel, context-specific guidance for KeNHA and comparable infrastructure agencies in developing economies.    Received:  22 June   2026 / Accepted: 31  August 2026 / Published: September 2026