Influence of Procurement Practices on Performance of County Governments in Kenya: A Case Study of Nairobi County

Abstract

Procurement is very critical in the performance of both private and public organizations. Many companies have incorporated and implemented procurement practices that have consequences that impact overall performance. There are many procurement practices that are adoptable in our county governments, especially those that have derailed operations and performance. The main aim of the study was to determine the impacts of procurement planning on the performance of county governments in Kenya. After the devolvement of county governments, they were given the autonomy to perform most of the purchases and acquisitions and hence are independent. However, many counties have failed to manage public funds and have lost a lot of money, especially in the procurement department. Failure to adhere to the rules and policies put in place in the procurement procedures and slow implementation of various procurement practices have led to low procurement performance. The study used Nairobi County government as the case study. The study employed procurement planning as one of the procurement practices. To aid in attaining the research objective, the study used the principal-Agency theory. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The study targeted procurement staff to gather information which included Heads of procurement, heads of departments, procurement officers, accountants, and clerks. A total of 112 respondents were targeted and the census method was applied. After the data were collected using open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires, graphs and tables were used to show the study's data in the form of frequency distribution tables. Standard deviation, percentages, and means were employed as the tools of descriptive statistics. In order to predict the values of the dependent variable, a regression model was employed. The findings indicated that there was a positive correlation between procurement planning and performance and it was statistically significant. The study recommended that the county should reduce operational costs related to procurement to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the procurement department, proper follow-ups to be taken for all awarded contracts, implementation of e-procurement practices, and best sourcing strategy. Further recommendations were directed to the entire procurement team to ensure the whole procurement process is followed in purchasing all goods and services at the county level. The researcher recommended further research to be done in counties to compare the results.