An assesment of the implimentation of procurement practices in public secondary schools in Rabai Sub-County, Kilifi County.

Abstract

Public procurement is a multi-faceted challenging field and public procurement practitioners have faced numerous challenges caused by diverse factors. It is essential that procurement process be performed by qualified staff with high professional and ethical standards and using sound procedures provided in by public procurement and disposal act. The main purpose of this study was to assess the implementation of procurement policy on procurement practices in public secondary schools in Rabai Sub-County. The study objectives were; to assess the professional ethics of procurement committee members on procurement practices, to establish the level of accountability on procurement practices, to establish the influence of school financial status on procurement practices and to examine staff level of awareness and staff training on procurement practices in public secondary schools in Rabai Sub County. The study was guided by institutional theory and social-economic theory. The study adopted descriptive survey research design and both qualitative and quantitative methods in data collection was applied then separately, but concurrently, collected data was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively and then merged into one overall interpretation in which the researcher related the qualitative results to quantitative findings. The target group comprised 18 public secondary schools in Rabai Sub- County from which a sample of ten secondary school with placed procurement procedures were selected through simple random sampling. Respondents were Head teachers from each school and all the procurement and tender committee members of the selected schools. The instruments of the study were interview guides and questionnaires for Head teachers and Procurement committee members. Validity of instruments was done through experts in research and piloting. Reliability was tested by subjecting the instruments to test-retest method and 0.7 and above index was accepted for this study. The data collected was analysed using ANOVA in Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS 21). Data presentation was done by using tables, graphs, charts and percentages because they summarize large quantities of data whilst making the report reader friendly while for qualitative data content analysis was done to capture the main themes of the interview. Findings reveal that majority of school have fees defaulters and therefore goods and services could not be procured as required by schools since there was no funding. This has resulted to delays of payment of school suppliers, luck of trust and this has sometimes prompted suppliers to sue schools. This has affected procurement practices in schools. The study established that accountability level of the tender committee is too low than expected by PPOA. It was also found that decisions by tender committee were influenced by principals, PA and BOM members and even the suppliers. The major recommendation was that that PPOA should start school based training for all members dealing with procurement matters. This will enhance tender committee level of awareness and knowledge on procurement policies hence e improving procurement practices.