Procurement Contracting Practices and Service Delivery of Government Owned Entities in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure in Kenya
Abstract
The use of different procurement contracting practices can negatively or positively
influence service delivery in government owned entities. In the recent past procurement
contracting practices have been facing various challenges, which include increase in cost,
political interference, lack of stakeholders involvement, compliance with best practices as
well as professionalism of procurement workforce. The objectives of this study were to
establish the procurement contracting practices used by government owned entities in the
Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure in Kenya and to determine the relationship
between procurement contracting practices and service delivery of government owned
entities in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure in Kenya. This study used a
descriptive research design. The target population of this study was all the 351 staff
working in the procurement departments in government owned entities under the ministry
of transport and infrastructure. Stratified random sampling was used to select 50% of the
target population in this study. The study used primary data, which was collected by use
of semi structured questionnaires. The questionnaires in this study will generate both
qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data was analzed by use of thematic content
analysis presented in a prose form. Quantitative data was analysed by use of descriptive
and inferential statistics through the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS) version 21. Descriptive statistics included percentages, frequencies, measures of
central tendencies (mean) and measures of dispersion (standard deviation). Data was then
presented in graphs and tables. Further, a correlation analysis and multivariate regression
analysis was used to establish the relationship between the dependent and the
independent variables. The study established that government owned entities were using
competitive procurement contracting practices, relational procurement contracting
practices, non-competitive procurement contracting practices and negotiated procurement
contracting practices. The study also found that all the four procurement contracting
practices were significantly influencing service delivery in government owned entities.
However, competitive contracting practices had the most significant influence on service
delivery in government owned entities most, followed by relational procurement
contracting practices, non-competitive contracting practices and negotiated procurement
contracting practices. Although competitive contracting practices, relational procurement
contracting practices and negotiated procurement contracting practices had a positive
influence on service delivery, non-competitive contracting practices had a negative
influence. The study recommends that the government of Kenya should formulate more
policies to emphasize on the use of competitive procurement contracting practices as they
will help to reduce corruption, ensure quality and low cost as well as improve service
delivery. The study also recommends that where unique products and services are
required a noncompetitive procurement contracting practice can be used. This will help in
saving time and reduce the cost of tendering. The study further recommends that the
government of Kenya should formulate policies to discourage the use of negotiated
procurement contracting as this will lead to collusion and corruption, which in turn leads
to low quality and poor service delivery to the public.
Publisher
University of Nairobi