The concept of procurement has dominated most the functions of the county governments because of its value in the role of enhancing and promoting delivery of services. This research sought to study the influence of public procurement practices on service delivery in Kilifi County government, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives: To assess the influence procurement planning practice on service delivery in Kilifi County government; to find out the Influence of tendering practice on service delivery in Kilifi County government; to determine the influence of procurement policies on service delivery in Kilifi County government and finally to establish the influence of financial management practice on service delivery in Kilifi County government. The study adopted descriptive research design. The study was guided by three theories namely agency theory, stakeholders and contingency theory. Employees who dealt with procurement were selected purposively and census technique was adopted to select respondents from procurement department. The study population comprised of 70 respondents that included the procurement staff, head of procurement as well as committee members of the budget. Primary data was collected using closed-ended questionnaires. A pilot study was done in Mombasa County to determine any possible weakness in the instruments. Data was analyzed using Statistical Software for Social Sciences (SPSS). Cronbach Alpha used to measure the coefficient of reliability that yielded 0.788 in this study. Frequency distribution table were used in the presentation of the data. Multiple regression models were used to analyze data. The findings of the study showed that the predictors variables that included Procurement planning practice, Tendering Practice, Procurement Policy and Financial Management Practice explained 81.7% in the variation of service delivery in Kilifi County with the R square value (R2=0.817). The study concluded that independent variables significantly influenced the service delivery in Kilifi County with; Procurement planning practice X1 (β =0.433, p˂ 0.05); Tendering Practice X2 (β =0.001, p˂ 0.05); Procurement Policies X3 (β =0.326, p˂ 0.05) and Financial Management Practice X4 (β =0.098, p˂ 0.05). The study recommends that the county leadership should come up with relevant tendering policies to ensure openness, integrity and transparency in all tendering process. There should be strong financial management mechanisms to avoid wastage during procurement functions and processes. In addition, all county stakeholders should be involved in the procurement process for the purpose of ensuring timely service delivery in line with the procurement specifications.
Citation: Mwakiru W.and Barasa P.W. (2022) Influence of Public Procurement Practices On Service Delivery in Kilifi County Government, Kenya, European Journal of Logistics, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Vol.10 No.2, pp.15-35
Keywords: Kilifi county government, Procurement Planning, Service delivery, financial management, tendering practice
