Public Participation in Procurement Process for Sustainable Project Procurement in the South-Eastern Kenya Economic Block Counties

Abstract

The study intended to assess the influence of public participation in the procurement process for sustainable procurement of infrastructural projects in the South Eastern Economic Block counties of Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were; To evaluate the influence of public participation in procurement planning on sustainable procurement, to establish the influence of public participation in risk management on sustainable procurement, to assess the influence of public participation in contract award and implementation on sustainable procurement `and to establish the influence of Public participation in project Procurement monitoring on sustainable procurement. The study adopted descriptive study design. The study target population was 1146 while 297 respondents were sampled through stratified sampling method from Makueni, Machakos, and Kitui Counties. Primary data was collected by use of semi structured questionnaires with closed ended questions while secondary data was from books, articles and published thesis. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data and t-test, Pearson correlation as well as multiple regression analysis used to analyze the data. The F-test was used to test the hypothesis of the study. SPSS aided in the data analysis. The findings of the study show a positive and linear relationship between public participation (procurement planning, risk management, contract award and Implementation and project procurement monitoring) and sustainable procurement. Project Procurement Monitoring had the highest positive and significant influence on sustainable procurement (β=0.487, p=0.000). The study is likely to influence on the future policies on sustainable procurement by providing the key roles that public participation may impact positively on identification, selection, implementation and monitoring of the procurement process. The study recommends that county governments need to engage the citizens more in Procurement monitoring of community projects since through citizen monitoring governments become more responsive to citizen demands hence achieving sustainable procurement objectives. The study further recommends that both national Government and county governments need to stipulate and implement policies that would improve on public participation so as to achieve sustainable procurement in devolved systems of government. The study proposes that other counties be investigated in order to have a holistic picture of the entire country on the subject matter. Studies using other additional variables, such as organization culture, government regulation as moderators or mediators may also be carried out to gain further insights into this relationship.