A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration (Corporate Management)of the School of Business KCA UniversityThis study was an attempt to establish how separation of duties impacts on the governance of community based organizations (CBOs) in Embakasi Constituency in Kenya, one of 210 constituencies in Kenya. As at time of this study, of the more than 3000 CBOs registered by the government to operate in the constituency, less than 40 were considered active. This is indicative of an underlying problem. This study therefore set out to investigate if governance is well practiced, with focus on separation of duties. The general objective of this research was to establish if separation of duties would help in improvement of governance in CBOs. Five specific objectives were identified as: i. To establish presence of structures in use by CBOs for governance ii. To determine the effect of independence of governance structures on governance iii. To determine the influence of separation of duties in CBO on governance iv. To establish effect of clearly defined reporting on governance v. To determine effect of awareness creation on governance The study used the descriptive research design approach. Data collection was made using an interview questionnaire. There were questions on descriptive information, open-ended ones and others using a five-point Likert Scale. A 10% sample size as recommended by Gay (1987) was used. Membership registers of CBOs were used in developing the sampling framework and subsequent randomization. Analysis was subsequently done using the SPSS package to help in generation of statistical information. Main findings were that governance structures are present (mean of 47.3% of tested), the structures are not partially independent owing to duplication of duties, separation of duties is not fully implemented, reporting mechanisms experience is not clear and there is need for awareness creation on importance of separation of duties. The study concluded that separation of duties is necessary in CBOs to improve on their governance. Government, possibly through policy, and other players should take a lead role in supporting these organizations to entrench practice of governance. It is important that these organizations are held accountable for the resources entrusted to them and also for ensuring their long-term sustainability.