Development Of Capital Equipment And Sourcing For National Security: A Case Of Kenya Defence Forces

Abstract

Ministry of Defence procures capital equipment to service the national military strategy as an aspect of national interest. These procurements are pivotal and prioritized based on fleeting needs and budgetary constraints hence need to adopt appropriate corporate procurement strategy for appropriation of capital equipment. MoD supports Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) by giving assurance that military assets and capabilities are reliable and readied for action in maintaining national sovereignty through security against any foreign aggression. However, sourcing of military armament and equipment in Kenya has been presided over by ill-informed partisan political deliberations other than expert and improvement-geared critical capacities and capabilities in line with future threats. This study sought to establish the development of capital equipment acquisition strategies and national security by analyzing sourcing approaches. The goal was to create better understanding of the current environment facing KDF in acquisition processes and involvement of distinct stakeholders to concentrate efforts on improving sourcing strategies and/or development of local industry through the study findings. The findings can be extrapolated for knowledge base, improvement on quality/savings on procurements, international security, markets for military hardware and technocrat approaches to military asset acquisition imperatives as a special concept of Public Procurement. To understand the precepts, perceptions and global principle, comparative assessments of military procurements in the world/regions were explored and further hunching on certain procurement theories including Institutional, Network, Bureaucracy and Innovation-oriented Procurement Theories have been deliberately highlighted. For instance, India has extensively used the last theory to make great leaps in her military industry and procurement enabling great technological transfers from other parts of the globe. A qualitative research design was adopted consisting of survey method of data collection, comparison and findings complemented by statistical probabilities. Senior staff of MoD and Procurement Officers at Defence Headquarters (DHQ) were enlisted to draw representative sample. One hundred and fifty respondents were obtained and provided data through a questionnaire. Factors considered to draw the sample included education level, departmental/military rank and period of service. Questions answered varied from sourcing strategies, supplier relationships, budgetary implications and utilization of allocations. Among other key findings, it was apparent that innovation policies, economic accountability, research/development investiture, bureaucracy reduction, redundancies elimination, better contract management and increased training for procurement staff prevailed. The study strongly recommended e-procurement, best-value sourcing and technology research strategies. Largely, respondents opined that limitations were impediment poor infrastructure, corruption, poor supplier relationships and low investment to research/development.