Public Procurement Regulations and Procurement Performance in Nairobi County

Abstract

With the advancement of technology and business activities, the economic state has become unstable. The need for government to be competitive in the global market place cannot be ignored. The government is under intense pressure from citizens for services that meet high service levels standards. The global marketplace is described by steep competition and devising mechanisms to reduce costs while increasing organizational performance. In this study, Public Procurement Regulations are examined on a recurrent basis to promote efficiency in procurement process. The government purchasing is more involving procedure consisting of a variety of phases with different sets of regulations governing those phases the aim of this study was to establish the effects of implementation of public procurement regulations and procurement performance in County Governments. Its objectives were to establish the impact of implementation of public procurement regulation and procurement performance in Nairobi county and to investigate the challenges facing affecting the implementation of public procurement regulations at Nairobi County. Descriptive survey research design was employed in this study in examining the effects of public procurement regulations in Nairobi County. The descriptive survey design method is appropriate and suitable in determining how internal factors influence procurement performance in the study area. The targeted population of the study was 44 respondents comprising of procurement units within Nairobi County which have ten sartorial Heads and 17 Sub County with 2 individuals each. Census sampling was employed to choose 44 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics in terms of frequency distributions and percentages were used to summarize essential features of the data in the study. Factor analysis was used to rank the effects of public procurement regulations on procurement efficiency in county governments. The study findings indicated that level of awareness contributes to 97.5% compliance to public procurement legislation in the public sector. Staff training contributes 95.9% while top management commitment contributes to 92.1%. A proportion of 92% in public procurement legislation compliance is accounted for by ICT and information systems. The study concluded that all the study variables namely, staff training, top management commitment, ICT and information systems, level of awareness, ethics and institutional factors influence compliance with the public procurement regulations. Therefore, it was recommended that training and seminars should be employed within the public sector to ensure compliance with the public procurement legislations. Further research was suggested to investigate the causes of high level of, misappropriation of public funds even after enactment of Public Procurement Act.