FACTORS AFFECTING IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES IN ELGEYO-MARAKWET COUNTY
Khadija Ramadhani - Master of Science in Procurement and Logistics, Jomo Kenyatta University of science and Technology, Kenya
Dr. Yusuf Kibet - Lecturer, Jomo Kenyatta University of science and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of the study was to examine the factors affecting implementation of public procurement procedures and practices in the devolved government structure. The specific objectives of the study were: to examine the contributions and roles of human capital competency, compliance strategies and leadership and training on the implementation of the public procurement procedures. This study utilized the descriptive design. The study area was Elgeyo-Marakwet. The population of this study consisted of the staff working in the procurement department within Elgeyo –Marakwet County, there are 105 staff working in procurement and the user departments Elgeyo -Marakwet County. The proportionate random sampling was employed in this study. A sample size of 83 was used for the study. The study used structured questionnaire with five point Likert scale questionnaires as the main data collection tool which was administered the questionnaire to the individual staff and collected the information to facilitate the study. The collected data was checked for completeness and consistency before being coded and fed into the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) package version 21. The qualitative data was analyzed and presented using descriptive statistics such as percentages, means, standard deviations and frequencies. The quantitative data was analyzed using the factor analysis. The study made the following conclusions: In the context of the examined Human Capital Comptency factors, the possession of the requisite technical skills and the provision of the foundational skills by the county government were the top two aspects of HCC affecting the PPP. The technical skills are critical in the procurement officers being able to adhere to the PPP despite the challenges or complexity involved in the procurement process. On the other hand, the ability of the county government to give foundational skills to the procurement officers gives them awareness on what is expected of them. The ability of the county governments to ensure open and fair competition among the bidders was the most significant aspect of compliance strategy influencing implementation of PPP. The public procurement within the central and county governments have been mired with court cases on allegations of the tendering and contracting process not being above the board. Therefore, the county governments ought to put strategies to ensure that there is perception and actual open and fair tendering and procurement being done. The personal integrity of the leader sets the tone for the team member on how they should behave and as such is the most integral component in relations to leadership skills influence on PPP. The study recommended that the county government should pay keen attention to the technical skills of its procurement officials through recruitment, professional exposures in conferences and seminars, and in house training, this would enable the county government to be better equipped to execute prudent PPP, while compliance strategy should look for means to enhance the perception of open and fair competition within the tendering and contract execution to prevent litigations that interfere with service delivery and lastly leadership skills within the county government; leaders should be vetted to have members of the highest integrity beyond reproach since they act as role models for their team members.
