Integrated Financial Management Information System Adoption and Public Procurement Performance in Kenya

Abstract

The government of Kenya has for a long time been very much concerned over the persistent poor performance in financial management due to lack of reliable and timely information for decision making. A review by the Department of Accountant General at Treasury- Financial management, Accounting systems and Role of audits, revealed weaknesses in the management of financial information. IFMIS was expected to be a great breakthrough for Kenya's development by ensuring visibility and accountability in the entire procurement process. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) adoption on public procurement performance in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design. For the purposes of this study, the population of interest was all the 19 Government Ministries in Kenya. Given the small size, a census was proposed. Primary data was collected for the purpose of this study. It was collected using interviewer administered questionnaires from chief procurement officers and IT managers in the target institutions. The filled questionnaires were inspected for completeness and edited. Descriptive statistics was used to determine the effect of IFMIS on the procurement processes in Ministries from information contained in the questionnaire. Standard deviation, range and co-efficient of variation was used to determine the challenges in implementing the IFMIS using data contained in the questionnaire. In addition, content analysis was used to analyze qualitative information collected in the survey. This was used to support the results of quantitative analysis in drawing conclusions and recommendations. The data collected from this study was mainly presented using, tables. The data analysis also used inferential statistics to make decisions or inferences by interpreting the data patterns to impact of IFMIS adoption on public procurement in Kenya. Inferential statistics included linear regression analyses, and ANOVA. The study found out that the various components of IFMIS have been adopted in the government ministries. They include; purchase ordering, general ledger (GL), accounts receivable, accounting, accounts payable, budgeting, procurement management, cash management, debt management tax administration, social security systems, pension systems, pay roll systems, human resource, asset management respectively. The study also concludes that budgeting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, purchase ordering and cash management all have a positive and significant effect on procurement performance in Kenya. Education level contributes the most to the public procurement performance followed by budgeting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, purchase ordering and cash management respectively. Based on the findings, this study recommends that the ministries should fully commit itself to see that the implementation of IFMIS is running smoothly without any challenges from the organization structures. However, it was noted that managers are supporting the implementation of the IFMIS due to the benefit that they may accrue if the system if fully functional.