Influence of Public Procurement Practices On Service Delivery in Kilifi County Government, Kenya (Published)

The concept of procurement has dominated most the functions of the county governments because of its value in the role of enhancing and promoting delivery of services. This research sought to study the influence of public procurement practices on service delivery in Kilifi County government, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives: To assess the influence procurement planning practice on service delivery in Kilifi County government; to find out the Influence of tendering practice on service delivery in Kilifi County government; to determine the influence of procurement policies on service delivery in Kilifi County government and finally to establish the influence of financial management practice on service delivery in Kilifi County government. The study adopted descriptive research design. The study was guided by three theories namely agency theory, stakeholders and contingency theory. Employees who dealt with procurement were selected purposively and census technique was adopted to select respondents from procurement department. The study population comprised of 70 respondents that included the procurement staff, head of procurement as well as committee members of the budget. Primary data was collected using closed-ended questionnaires. A pilot study was done in Mombasa County to determine any possible weakness in the instruments. Data was analyzed using Statistical Software for Social Sciences (SPSS). Cronbach Alpha used to measure the coefficient of reliability that yielded 0.788 in this study. Frequency distribution table were used in the presentation of the data. Multiple regression models were used to analyze data. The findings of the study showed that the predictors variables that included Procurement planning practice, Tendering Practice, Procurement Policy and Financial Management Practice explained 81.7% in the variation of service delivery in Kilifi County with the R square value (R²=0.817). The study concluded that independent variables    significantly influenced the service delivery in Kilifi County with; Procurement planning practice X₁ (β =0.433, p˂ 0.05); Tendering Practice X₂ (β =0.001, p˂ 0.05); Procurement Policies X₃ (β =0.326, p˂ 0.05) and Financial Management Practice X₄ (β =0.098, p˂ 0.05). The study recommends that the county leadership should come up with relevant tendering policies to ensure openness, integrity and transparency in all tendering process. There should be strong financial management mechanisms to avoid wastage during procurement functions and processes. In addition, all county stakeholders should be involved in the procurement process for the purpose of ensuring timely service delivery in line with the procurement specifications.

Citation: Mwakiru W.and  Barasa  P.W. (2022) Influence of Public Procurement Practices On Service Delivery in Kilifi County Government, Kenya, European Journal of Logistics, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Vol.10 No.2, pp.15-35

 

Keywords: Kilifi county government, Procurement Planning, Service delivery, financial management, tendering practice

Effect of Procurement Planning on Suppliers Performance in Public Institutions: A Case of Moi University (Published)

Supplier performance has become a critical factor for the organization’s success. In this regard, many firms and researchers have attempted to find out variables that affect either positively or negatively on supplier performance. However, very few studies have been carried out on procurement procedures in developing countries like Kenya. Public procurement system in Kenya has been characterized by a weak legal framework and lack of professionalism among public procurement practitioners. The study adopted an explanatory research design. The target population was 119 suppliers in the list of pre-qualified suppliers. The study adopted census for the suppliers to collect data; self administered questionnaires together with interviews schedule guides were used. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings indicated planning enhances value for money, enhance quality, encourages proper utilization of resources, planning enables quick decision making and encourages innovations as it is a problem solving technique and saves time. Therefore procurement planning enhances supplier’s performance in service delivery.

Keywords: Procurement Planning, Procurement Procedure, Public Procurement, Suppliers Performance

PROCUREMENT PRACTICES INFLUENCING SERVICE DELIVERY: A CASE OF KENYA POWER (Published)

In developing countries, public procurement is increasingly recognized as essential in service delivery and it accounts for huge proportion of total expenditures. However, there is a growing recognition that, despite significant increases in resource, public service delivery is falling in many developing countries. Poor service delivery of electricity can be justified by ineffective procurement systems within an organization. The purpose of this study is to evaluate procurement practices influencing service delivery in the public sector with focus on the provision of electricity: A case study of Kenya Power. The study is based on the socio-economic and institutional theories. The objectives of the study; to establish the influence of procurement policy on service delivery, to evaluate how procurement planning influence service delivery, and to evaluate sustainable procurement practices influence on service delivery. Methodology used in the study is a case study with a focus on Kenya power. Stratified sampling technique was used to select a representative sample from a target population of 160 employees with a sample size of 100 respondents. The respond rate is 71%. A mixture of Interview and Likert- Scale questionnaire were employed. The collected data was further analyzed using SPSS and excel computer software as well as descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that: Procurement rule and regulation lack flexibility and it is hampering the procurements operations as revealed by 77.5%; Procurement planning does not take long term cost of ownership into consideration as also revealed by 39.4%; the findings also revealed 59.1% agreed that there is no Sustainable procurement practice by the company even though it has Green policy in places but, the implementation is hampered by organizational culture as well as budgetary constraint. The followings are major Recommendations: The National procurement policy or rules and regulations should be review to put into place clauses that will lead to flexibility and inclusion of emerging trends in the procurement process as procurement is an involving profession; The top management should ensure that the procurement departments are involved in all procurement and contract related activities as a result of the decentralize nature of the company’s procurement system; The planning process for electricity expansion should involve all concern departments so that planning can be done in advance before budgets are approved; Government should increase it subsidy to the company’s operation; The company should include sustainable procurement criteria within its procurement and contracting decisions.

Keywords: Electricity, Procurement Planning, Procurement Policy, Service delivery, Sustainable Procurement Practice