Public Procurement and Operational Performance of County Governments in Kenya

Abstract

The study‟s objective was to establish the extent of public procurement on operational performance in Kenyan County Governments. The methodology used involved collection of primary and secondary data through an online survey tool; whose link was sent to respective officers in the procurement and supply chain departments. The responses were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics on SPSS 24. The findings were presented using percentages, frequency, means, standard deviations and tables. The study established that a properly functioning public procurement function has a significant influence on operational performance of County Governments in Kenya. The study concluded that efficient management is one of the most effective preventative mechanism that promotes accountability and transparency, encourages oversight and provides a good basis for prevention of corruption. It was also established that Ambiguity in the public procurement procedures result in dubious tendering and supplier discrimination. This research recommended that county governments must focus on improving the functionality of public procurement in order to realize the intended objectives on improved operational performance of the County Governments. Future researchers could investigate factors affecting tendering processes and mimic this study on private entities and parastatals and state corporations.