PROCUREMENT PLANNING: THE PRINCIPLE OF SOUND BALANCE BETWEEN PROCUREMENT CONTROL AND ACHIEVING VALUE FOR MONEY
Collins Ochieng Obura - Tutorial Fellow, Turkana University College, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Government institutions are expected to use procurement planning as an opportunity to evaluate the entire procurement process in order to make sound judgments that promotes the overall implementation of projects in the procurement of goods, works and services. As a fundamental part of the governance and public financial system, the relationship between Procurement Function and Larger Public Financial Management is key for budget preparations and executions. A procuring entity therefore needs to understand how each activity will translate into individual procurement requirement and to determine the method and duration of these procurement requirement for effective implementation of operational activities within the stipulated time. This paper critically examines the application of key issues in procurement planning that public sector institutions can embrace to influence positive operational performance in procurement. Need Identification, Market Survey, Aggregation, and Procurement Methods are key indicators discussed to bring out key areas of the study. Descriptive research design was used to give a detailed description of the knowledge levels of respondents on procurement planning. Target population included procurement officers of National Government Ministries. An accessible population of 120 respondents was identified, with 74 forming a sample. 62% response rate was realized. The study used questionnaires to collect primary data. Secondary data was collected from the existing literature. ANOVA findings as explained by the P-Value of 0.000 which is less than 0.05 (significance level of 5%) confirms the existence of correlation between the independent and dependent variables. The study recommends that to avoid circumstances where organization attract huge pending bills at the end of the fiscal year, procuring entities are required to coordinate all procurement activities from procurement plan preparation to payment and organize major supply agreements for common use goods and also act as an advisory body for procurement related matters.
