Procurement Practices and Performance of Public Institutions in Turkana County, Kenya

Abstract

The success of any institution is majorly determined by the procurement practices adopted and how well they are implemented. Procurement concept has dominated most of the activities in public institutions because of the value attached to the role of procurement in enhancing the overall performance of the institutions; hence, the study seeks to investigate the procurement practices and performance of public institutions in Turkana County, Kenya. This research was pinned on Principal- Agency Theory, Contingency Theory, Stakeholder Theory and Porter Value Chain Analysis Theory. The study utilized a descriptive survey research design. The target population comprised 140 officials in various public entities in Turkana. The study used census techniques to come up with 140 participants as a sample size. Data were descriptively analyzed using means and standard deviations and inferentially by Pearson's correlation and regression analysis to measure strength and direction. Regression results demonstrated that procurement practices (procurement planning, E-procurement practices, sourcing ethics and evaluation practices) all yield statistically significant influence on procurement performance. The Coefficient of Determination or R square stood at (p<0.05; R2= 0.785), which implied that 78.5% of the variation in the procurement performance was explained by variability in the variables under procurement practices (procurement planning, E-procurement practices, sourcing ethics and evaluation practices). The study recommends more pursuit of procurement practices involvement in procurement planning, E-procurement practices, sourcing ethics and evaluation practices. Public institution management, government, researchers and academicians will greatly benefit from this study as it provides viable insights that could guide decisions to serve their interests on the critical subject of enhanced procurement performance.