Determinants of Effective Procurement Contract Administration in Selected Public Universities in Kenya

Abstract

Procurement represents one of the most critical functions in public institutions that ensure efficiency in utilization of public resources as well as efficiency in service delivery. The procurement process involves going into contract with the supplier and subsequently fulfillment of the contract. The administration of procurement contracts is the sole responsibility of the procurement department. However in the recent past, Public institutions in Kenya have lost billions of tax payer's money through annulled contracts, uncompleted projects, unsupplied goods and services not provided, collusion in the tender evaluation and award, inadequate training of the procurement staff especially on the technical fields, corruptions and extended contract periods. The mismanagement of procurement contracts continues to be reported despite the enactment of the Public Procurement laws and oversight bodies in place in Public Universities in Kenya. These points out to weaknesses at the contract administration stage therefore prompting this study to assess the determinants of effective procurement contract administration in Public Universities. The objective of the study was to examine the determinants of effective procurement contracts administration in Public Universities in Kenya. The study specifically focused on the staff competencies, use of information communication technology, professionalism and accountability. The theories which were relevant to this study were Resource Dependency Theory and Dynamic Capabilities Theory. The study was conducted among some selected Public Universities in Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design where the procurement staff of public universities was used to provide information on the influence of staff related factors and efficiency of contract administration. The study target population comprised of 141 procurement staff who included senior procurement officers, procurement officers, procurement assistants and clerical officers. A sample of 59 was selected using stratified random sampling technique to provide information. Questionnaires were then be used to obtain data from the respondents. Data analysis was performed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics included frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation which was used to summarize the findings. Multiple regression analysis was then used to determine the relationship between variables. The study concluded that staff competencies, use of information communication technology, professionalism and accountability have a statistically significant influence on contract administration in public universities in Kenya. Additionally, the study concluded that a unit increase in the staff competencies, use of information communication technology, professionalism and accountability, on their own, results in an increase in procurement contract administration.