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An efficient,motivated and well trained civil service is expected to be one of the major foundations of Kenya Vision 2030. The civil service employees, who include the Ministry of Health staffs´, performance is below expectations as often highlighted in many dailies and other publications. Literature reviewed revealed that there are several factors that can contribute to poor staff performance. This stimulated the researcher´s interest to venture into the area of civil servants´ performance targeting the Ministry of Health staff. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors affecting the performance of Ministry of Health staff at the Machakos Provincial Hospital. The objectives of the study were: to examine the effect of training and development on the performance of the Ministry of Health staff, to examine the effect of communication on the performance of Ministry of Health staff, to explore the effect of HR policies on the performance of the Ministry of Health staff and to examine the effect of the working conditions on the performance of the Ministry of Health staff. Related literature on performance and the performance of the Ministry of Health staff was reviewed.

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Jacinta Kinyili is a long serving tutor. She holds a Bachelor of Education(Science) degree from Egerton University, a Diploma in Human Resource Management from the Kenya Institute of Management,a Master of Education degree from Kenyatta University and a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Management from Jomo Kenyatta University.

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