CONTRACT MANAGEMENT AND PROCUREMENT PERFORMANCE OF COUNTY GOVERNMENTS IN KENYA

Abstract

County Government procurement entities performance is as important and critical to the overall thriving of the counties. County governments’ activities may be at risk if its procurement is associated with poor quality, delays and high cost. This study looked at the effect of contract management on procurement performance in the County governments in Kenya. It specifically looked at the effect of contract monitoring and contract management team on procurement performance of county governments in Kenya. The study adopted transaction cost theory and agency theory. This study used a descriptive census research design. Population of the study was the 47 county governments. The study did a census on all the county government. The study used purposive sampling to sample the unit of observation based on knowledge on contract management and procurement performance of the county government. The unit of analysis was the County governments in Kenya. The unit of observation was procurement managers in the County governments. A pilot study was conducted to test for reliability and validity of the research instruments. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to test the reliability while relevant theoretical review and experts’ views were used to ensure validity of the instrument. The data collected was analyzed with the assistant of statistical package for social science (SPSS) software. Descriptive statistics (mean, percentages and frequencies) was used to describe the data. Inferential statistic which is multiple regression model was used to test the effect of contract management on procurement performance in the county governments. The study used tables and figures to present the study findings. The study findings revealed that contract management has positive influence on procurement performance in county governments. Contract management team was the most important among the independent variables to the procurement performance of county governments contributing 26.3%. The study concluded that practicing contract management improves procurement performance of county governments in Kenya. The study recommended that county governments should have appropriate contract management teams who will be accountable on the contracts awarded to vendors. It furthermore recommended that County governments should have a robust dispute resolution framework that ensures dispute avoidance, management and resolution.

Key Words: Contract Monitoring, Contract Management Team

CITATION: Bett C. V., & Achuora, J. (2021). Contract management and procurement performance of County Governments in Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 8 (2), 222 – 231.