THE IMPACT OF LEGISLATION ON PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES PROCUREMENT PROCESS: A CASE OF EGERTON UNIVERSITY

Abstract

The Kenyan Procurement Process is faced with inefficiency, undercutting deals that led to massive loss of resources other being wasted. Corruption is identified as the major weakness in public procurement, not only in Kenya but globally, which leads to a loss of approximately $400billion lost due to bribery and corruption. The study focused on investigating the impact of legislation on public procurement Universities Procurement process. The specific objectives of the study included; to establish the impact of the Public Procurement and asset disposal Act 2005 on the procurement process, o assess the effect of the Public Procurement and Disposal legislation, (2006) on the procurement process and establish the contribution of the Public Private Partnership Regulations, (2009) on procurement process. The study targeted 174 employees of Egerton University. The study selected 68 respondents from five different directorates. Both primary and secondary data was used for analysis. Primary data was obtained from the information in the questionnaires distributed to procurement practitioners and interview guides from the university employees. In contrast, secondary data was retrieved from existing reports of the PPOA website. The questionnaires were pilot tested on five entities which helped to improve the instrument. Data was analyzed using SPSS and presented in tables and charts. The study's first objective was to determine the impact of the PPDA, (2005) implementation on procurement process in Kenya. The study shows that Egerton University has implemented the Public Procurement and Disposal Act (2005), which contributes to their effective procurement process as indicated by an increased rate of service delivery at the university. Findings indicated that implementation of the PPDA (2005) had to a greater extent achieved the objectives of efficiency (value for money); competition; transparency and accountability contributed largely to the procurement process with the mean of4.0. The second objective of the study aimed at establishing the impact of PPDR, (2006) legislation on procurement process. Findings indicated that Egerton had put in place structures to govern the procurement process. This included the appointment of the relevant committees that adjudicated on procurement and disposal issues (tender, procurement, disposal and tender processing committee). Findings indicated that by a mean of 4.26 of the respondents surveyed prepared procurement plans and updated them to suit project needs; 4.14 of the corporations have records management units, and 3.17 respondents were not familiar with the procurement rules and regulations. The third objective of the study aimed at establishing the contribution of PPPR, (2009) on the procurement process at Egerton University. The study showed a positive relationship between PPPR (2009) legislation and the procurement process.