Public Procurement Law and Procurement Performance of County Governments in Kenya: Case of Machakos County Government

Abstract

This study was conducted with the objective of investigating the impact of public procurement law on the performance of Machakos county government. To achieve the above objectives, primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered through drop and pick later method. Responses were analyzed using deductive and inductive approaches and descriptive statistics. The findings were presented using percentages, frequency, means, standard deviations and tables. The study established that the public procurement regulation law has reduced the speed with which goods and services are procured, increased the level of transparency among Government offices, improved utilization of funds in the County Government operations, improved the capacity of the staff involved in procurement processes, improved the quality of projects undertaken by the County Government and provided room for procurement dispute resolution at the County. The study too established that the Duration taken, the level of ICT and technicality of the goods being sourced affects the procurement process. The study also established that political forces, unethical practices, lack of transparency and accountability and dishonesty among procurement officers have affected procurement processes. The study concludes that the procurement law has a great impact on the procurement performance at the Machakos County. The study too concludes that there are a number of challenges faced by the county government which affects the procurement performance of the county. The study recommends that the county government comes up with strategies that will enforce stricter penalties on officers found to have engaged in corruption, it also recommends that the county government organizes employee trainings and workshops to train them on technical skills. The study also recommends that the county appoints a procurement oversight committee that will see implementation of the procurement law and county policies on procurement.